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The software programmable radio era has spawned a new generation of units designed to interoperate while simultaneously serving specific service and platform needs. The result of these digital genetics is instant interoperability among land, sea and air forces as well as software-driven upgrades and compatibility with other systems.

A globally adopted standard and technology developed for public safety organizations could support multinational military operations by providing international interoperability. The high-level commercial technology product offers various data applications that meet the communications needs of international peace support operations.

A cooperative venture among government, academic and commercial organizations is seeking to build an advanced research park in the heart of Poland. The Warsaw-based entity will serve as an incubator for small companies, provide established firms with access to research facilities and create a venue to turn the fruits of this labor into commercial products.

The British government is employing streamlined procurement procedures that change the way military projects are bid, selected and deployed. Moving away from traditional single-platform and service-based methods, the process utilizes a flexible approach that meets changing national defense requirements.

The British government has launched its ambitious program to create a state-of-the-art tactical communications infrastructure for its military. When complete, the United Kingdom's armed forces will have a secure radio system that operates a battlefield Internet jointly across multiple ground, air and sea platforms.

Arms sales in Southeast Asia are returning to levels that existed prior to the region's 1997 financial crash. Procurement plans that had been frozen because of the economic turmoil have been reactivated as area nations seek to acquire items such as military aircraft, communications systems and warships. Although these purchases reflect steady improvement in a number of national economies, some countries remain gripped by fiscal and political crises.

Almost 50 years after the end of the Korean War, Korea remains one of the world's flash points-a place where the flames of the Cold War have yet to be fully extinguished. Although progress has been made during the recent North-South summit in Korea, North Korea still maintains one of the largest forward-deployed armies in the world. Its offensive posture, coupled with its recent development of ballistic missiles, lethal special operations forces and weapons of mass destruction, causes the Korean peninsula to be very volatile.

The march of technology is improving interoperability and increasing capabilities among NATO and Partnership for Peace nations. New systems and bridging components are allowing forces to share information to a greater degree and under more circumstances than ever. However, the same new technologies are spawning a new generation of capabilities that are complicating efforts for true alliance interoperability.

The U.S. Defense Department is coordinating a multidimensional effort to seek out technologies that would bring order to the oftentimes chaotic environment of a coalition operation. Among the top priorities is identifying information security approaches that ensure continued communications when the composition of the coalition changes or the ad hoc area network is attacked.

The adoption of network-based operations combined with commercial information technology and telecommunications products is enhancing the interoperability of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Partnership for Peace nations' military forces. These developments also are allowing many smaller and former Eastern Bloc countries to rapidly evolve their militaries into modern information-based organizations.