INTRODUCTION

Electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) access is a prerequisite for modern 

military operations. DoD’s growing requirements to gather, analyze, and 

share information rapidly; to control an increasing number of automated 

Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets; to command 

geographically dispersed and mobile forces to gain access into denied 

areas; and to “train as we fight” requires that DoD maintain sufficient 

spectrum access. Additionally, adversaries are aggressively developing 

and fielding electronic attack (EA) and cyberspace technologies that significantly reduce the ability of DoD to access the spectrum and conduct 

military operations. Concurrently, the global wireless broadband industry’s demand for spectrum is driven by 

consumer demand for greater mobility and better data access. These competing requirements for finite spectrum 

resources have changed the spectrum landscape, nationally and internationally, for the foreseeable future. Going 

forward, our national leaders will be challenged to make decisions that balance national security with economic 

interests.

VISION

Mission success, dependent on sufficient access to the EMS, is the overriding requirement for this strategy. DoD 

recognizes that the electromagnetic environment (EME) will be increasingly congested and contested wherever 

military operations occur. DoD’s spectrum access will continue to be challenged by adversaries on the battlefield 

and debated in national and international forums where leadership will need to balance national defense, economic, and other national interests. DoD must be able to address these challenges to provide spectrum access 

when and where needed by the warfighter.

To achieve mission success, DoD 

Components must be able to assemble 

mission-tailored capabilities to meet a 

combatant commander’s requirements 

and trust that systems will be compatible 

with each other and be able to adapt to 

a continuously changing EME. Accordingly, DoD must improve the way 

in which it accesses spectrum and must also improve its ability to deny adversary use 

of spectrum without degrading its own use. To realize these improvements, DoD systems must become more 

spectrally efficient, flexible, and adaptable, and DoD spectrum operations must become more agile in their 

ability to access spectrum in order to increase the options available to mission planners1 . In addition to these 

improvements, DoD must work closely with spectrum regulators, nationally and internationally, to ensure these 

spectrally efficient, flexible, adaptable, and agile capabilities are authorized for use.

1 Spectrum efficiency is the use of the minimum amount of EMS resources necessary to ensure maximum operational effectiveness in fully accomplishing the required mission while taking all practicable steps to minimize impacts to other systems in the EME. 

Spectrum flexibility and adaptability is the capability of a spectrum-dependent system (SDS) to exploit various opportunities to access 

spectrum – e.g., multi-band operation, increasing the ability to share spectrum with other systems (domestic or foreign, federal, or 

non-federal), becoming more tolerant of interference. Agile spectrum operations will enable DoD systems to utilize their flexibility and 

adaptability to achieve mission success in rapidly changing EMEs.

“...therefore, we are shaping a Joint 

Force for the future that will be smaller 

and leaner, but will be agile, flexible, 

ready, and technologically advanced.” – 

Secretary of Defense –“Sustaining U.S. 

Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st 

Century Defense” - 5 January 2012

Spectrum access when and where needed to achieve mission success
SCOPE

This DoD Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy is designed to address near-term, as well as far-term, spectrum 

challenges. It provides guidance for current and longer-term initiatives to ensure our military has spectrum 

when and where needed to meet the objectives in the National Military Strategy and the primary missions listed 

in the President’s strategic guidance “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense.” 

This strategy identifies what must be accomplished, via goals and objectives, to achieve the vision. Although 

it emphasizes advancing promising spectrum-dependent technologies, other initiatives, including improving 

the integration of DoD spectrum activities, improving the ability to assess and respond to spectrum regulatory 

changes, and addressing associated policy and governance are identified. 

A governance structure will be developed along with a Roadmap and Action Plan to fulfill this strategy and will 

provide the actions, associated lead organizations, estimated costs, schedule, deliverables, and metrics needed to 

implement and monitor the progress of the strategy goals and objectives. In addition, the Roadmap and Action Plan will address other fundamental underlying DOTMLPF2

 activities (e.g., doctrine, personnel education, 

and training) needed to implement the strategy. This strategy and associated Roadmap and Action Plan will be 

updated periodically to reflect lessons learned, changing DoD spectrum needs, and the evolving spectrum community.

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT

The National Military Strategy states: “The Joint Force must ensure access, freedom of maneuver, and the ability 

to project power globally through all domains.” Like air, space, land, maritime, and cyberspace domains, military forces maneuver within the EMS to gain tactical, operational, and strategic advantages. The EMS transcends 

all these domains and enables mission execution within each and ensures overall operational superiority. It 

cannot be overstated that all joint functions – including movement and maneuver, weapon engagements (fires), 

command and control, intelligence, protection, sustainment, and information are enabled by spectrum-dependent system (SDS) capabilities. Further, for these SDSs to be effective, DoD requires access and control of the 

EMS, which is obtained by conducting joint electromagnetic spectrum operations (JEMSO) i.e., those activities 

consisting of electronic warfare (EW) and spectrum management operations used to exploit, attack, protect, and 

manage the electromagnetic operational environment to achieve the commander’s objectives. 

Growth in DoD Spectrum Requirements

DoD SDSs address specific mission requirements such as detection, communications, and command and 

control, where the specific range of frequencies used is driven by the associated physical characteristics of the 

spectrum. For example, higher frequencies are required for accurate target location, and lower frequencies for 

mobile communications. Within the United States and its possessions, DoD testing, training, and first responder 

support dictate the Department’s spectrum usage. When deployed, missions and force structure (platforms/

equipment) in a given operational environment determine DoD spectrum usage.

The demand for more and timely information at every echelon is driving an increase in DoD’s need for spectrum. Increasingly lower echelons, including individual soldiers, require situational awareness information 

resulting in more spectrum-enabled network links. The growth in the complexity of modern military systems 

has similarly led to an increase in spectrum requirements. Some examples include: the increased reliance on 

unmanned vehicles to collect ISR information and relay communications; the requirement to detect smaller, 

2 DOTMLPF - doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities
stealthier targets at greater distances; and increased data rates 

required for increasingly sophisticated tests of progressively 

more complex weapons systems such as the F-35. 

In addition, advances in adversary command, control, communications, and computers; ISR; improvised explosive devices 

(IEDS); and area denial weapon systems require the development, fielding, and integration of complex EA, electronic 

support (ES), and electronic protection (EP) technologies – all 

of which require access to spectrum. Finally, an underlying 

challenge that any band identified for new commercial wireless 

use becomes a band in which DoD must test, train, and employ 

the use of EW systems to counter advances in enemy usage of IEDs.

 

Wireless Broadband Growth and the Increasing Consensus to Repurpose 

Spectrum

Consumer demand for wireless devices like smartphones and tablet computers, and the associated data-intensive 

applications, is growing on a global basis. As a result, mobile network traffic is rising dramatically and outpacing 

efficiency gains. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimated that wireless broadband providers would need an additional 275 MHz of spectrum by 2014 to meet conservative data demand estimates. The 

Administration and Congress are considering methods to make more spectrum available, including repurposing 

spectrum from Federal government use to wireless broadband use even though Federal agencies have exclusive 

use of only a small percentage of the spectrum. For example, about 18% of the spectrum between 300 MHz 

and 3 GHz (the spectrum most highly desired by the wireless community) is for Federal exclusive use. Further, 

spectrum auctions are being considered by Congress and the 

Administration to be potential revenue sources to reduce the 

Federal government deficit. 

In June 2010, President Obama directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) 

to work with the FCC to “make available a total of 500 MHz 

of federal and non-federal spectrum over the next 10 years, 

suitable for both mobile and fixed wireless broadband use.” 

To meet the President’s goal, NTIA is identifying bands for 

repurposing. A recent study by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and 

Technology stressed the need to expand 

the development and use of new spectrumsharing technologies since moving Federal 

systems to new bands will be costly and time 

consuming.

Around the world other nations are conducting similar actions to make additional 

spectrum available for wireless broadband. For example, the International Telecommunication 

Union (a United Nations treaty organization) has put spectrum allocations for wireless broadband on the agenda 

for its 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference with the goal of harmonizing international use of spectrum 

bands for commercial wireless.

“This new era in global technology 

leadership will only happen if there is 

adequate spectrum available to support the forthcoming myriad of wireless 

devices, networks, and applications that 

can drive the new economy. To do so, we 

can use our American ingenuity to wring 

abundance from scarcity, by finding ways 

to use spectrum more efficiently. We can 

also unlock the value of otherwise underutilized spectrum and open new avenues for spectrum users to derive value 

through the development of advanced, 

situation-aware spectrum-sharing technologies. – President Obama, Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution, June 28, 2010
As a result of these pressures on the spectrum, in the near term, there is a high probability that DoD could lose 

dedicated access to portions of spectrum available to it today.

 Spectrum Access Innovation

The revolution in wireless broadband technology is being fueled by consumer demand for more information. Although carriers are finding 

creative ways to meet this demand by offloading traffic to low power unlicensed Wi-Fi hotspots and deploying smaller wireless cells, they expect 

more improvements will be needed and continue to develop more capable 

wireless devices and applications. Consequently, DoD has the opportunity 

to leverage commercial technologies and wireless services to meet DoD requirements, where appropriate. In addition, DoD investments in spectrum 

technologies will augment commercial innovation, which will benefit the 

overall national wireless ecosystem.

Opportunistic use of the spectrum is one of the promising approaches being pursued by both DoD and the wireless community. Cognitive radio systems, improved spectrum sensing, and geo-location databases are among 

new opportunistic use technologies being considered. The success of these new access techniques will almost 

certainly create regulatory pressure to share Federal spectrum via dynamic access or other similar technologies. 

Conversely, DoD’s adoption of these technologies may provide opportunities for DoD to operate in government 

and commercial spectrum that would otherwise be unavailable.

SPECTRUM STRATEGY

The strategic environment – the warfighter’s expectation of a robust information environment, increasing commercial and DoD demand for spectrum, rising proliferation of adversary anti-access technologies, and spectrum 

access innovation – provides the impetus for DoD to change how it uses spectrum. DoD must become more efficient, flexible, adaptable, and agile in its spectrum use in order to have the spectrum access required when and 

where needed to achieve mission success, particularly in the face of competition for access.

DoD will pursue the following goals and objectives to address the global spectrum challenges that face DoD 

today and at least through 2020. A significant part of this strategy 

requires advancing and adopting spectrum-dependent technologies that will lead to more spectrally efficient, flexible, and adaptable 

SDS capabilities. DoD will explore promising technologies, assess 

the technologies’ military utility, and include the most promising 

in key acquisition programs. DoD will also continue to adopt new 

tools and techniques to manage the spectrum more effectively, making our spectrum operations more agile. Finally, DoD must improve 

its understanding and assessment of proposed regulatory and policy 

changes, and the associated impacts, to arrive at informed decisions 

that balance national defense and security with economic interests. 

Goal 1: Expedite the Development of SDS Capabilities with Increased Spectrum 

Efficiency, Flexibility, and Adaptability

To meet the warfighter’s growing demand for spectrum access, DoD will exploit technology to increase DoD 

Naval Research Laboratory
spectrum access efficiency, flexibility, and adaptability. This approach is intended to 

increase DoD capabilities while minimizing EME impact and improving upon today’s 

spectrum sharing opportunities. For example, DoD will exploit technology advances 

to access less-used spectrum and seek to use commercial services and technologies to 

meet DoD requirements where possible. Concurrently, DoD will explore increased 

spectrum sharing technologies. Finally, DoD will improve its oversight of spectrum 

use at the enterprise level to ensure spectrum availability risks are identified and managed at the early stages of 

SDS requirements, planning, programming, and development.

Objective 1: Expedite development of technologies that increase an SDS’s ability to: 

access wider frequency ranges; exploit spectrum efficiency gains; utilize less congested 

bands; and adapt rapidly to changing EMEs

DoD will investigate leveraging mature, advanced, and affordable technologies that exploit multi-dimensional 

access opportunities of spectrum use, increase spectrum efficiency, and move some functions to uncongested 

portions of the spectrum. DoD will also develop operational scenarios to evaluate, through modeling, simulation, and testing, the performance and vulnerabilities of advanced technologies to various techniques of attack, 

denial, interference, and deception. Investments will focus on flexible spectrum usage and interference mitigation technologies to enable continued operational capabilities within more dense and contested EMEs. 

Objective 2: Accelerate the fielding of technologies that enable spectrum sharing and 

improve access opportunities

Technology innovation will overcome some of today’s challenges associated with spectrum sharing, such as the 

risk of harmful interference. DoD will pursue promising technologies, establish policies, and adopt standards 

to improve interference mitigation while preserving the capabilities of DoD systems. DoD will also identify 

systems that can share spectrum and/or operate compatibly with systems in adjacent spectrum bands without 

affecting system effectiveness or compromising operational safety. 

Objective 3: Cultivate and adopt commercial service capabilities

Emerging commercial hardware, applications, and operating systems provide SDS capabilities in small, low cost, 

adaptable packages. DoD will evaluate commercial capabilities, such as smartphones and 4th Generation wireless, for mission use and to meet other spectrum requirements. DoD will also participate in national, international, and industry-specific standards bodies associated with wireless innovation to collaborate on emerging 

technologies and their adoption, including national security preemption and priority mechanisms for commercial wireless systems. DoD expects that military investments in spectrum technologies will both leverage 

and augment commercial innovation to the benefit of DoD operations and the national wireless ecosystem as a 

whole.

Objective 4: Strengthen enterprise oversight of DoD spectrum use

DoD will improve enterprise oversight and enforcement of spectrum use at the earliest stages of SDS development to ensure future systems align with this spectrum strategy, ensure spectrum technology investments are 

synchronized across DoD Components, and ensure that spectrum availability risks are identified and managed. 

This will include: expanding and requiring adoption of spectrum standards and protocols; establishing policy requiring spectrum sharing, efficiency, flexibility, and adaptability be addressed in DoD requirements, acquisition, 

and procurement processes; conducting reviews of Component spectrum-related research and development 

portfolios; and establishing a spectrum risk review board to support Defense Acquisition Board decisions.
Goal 2: Increase the Agility of DoD Spectrum Operations

DoD’s spectrum use will become more agile. DoD will be able to assemble 

mission-tailored capabilities to meet a combatant commander’s requirements, 

enable EMS superiority through JEMSO, and ensure SDS compatibility and 

adaptability within continuously changing congested and contested EMEs. To 

accomplish this, DoD will improve its capabilities to plan, manage, and control all dimensions of spectrum use to preserve access to and maneuver within 

the EME. Maintaining a comprehensive spectrum data repository is essential 

to access and maneuver in the EME. DoD will explore new spectrum use paradigms such as sharing, and engage in national and international discussions to take advantage of spectrum use opportunities while advocating 

for exclusive spectrum access for military capabilities that still require it.

Objective 1: Develop the ability to perform near-real-time spectrum operations

DoD will develop the ability to manage SDS in near-real-time by developing the tools and techniques required to quantify spectrum requirements 

and the EME, and to identify and mitigate spectrum issues and limitations that could affect operations. This includes: the ability to identify 

and model the spectrum “footprint” of SDSs - frequency used, location 

space, time, use parameters (e.g., signal coding), etc. - at any point in 

time; a policy-based management system or system-of-systems to control 

SDS parameters (e.g., signal coding, power) as a function of real-time location to meet mission performance 

requirements while also preventing harmful interference; improving situational awareness of the EME; developing the ability to assess mission impacts due to denial of spectrum quickly; improving DoD’s ability to deny 

adversary use of spectrum without degrading use by friendly forces or non-aligned entities; and improving the 

integration of spectrum management, network operations, EW, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. 

Objective 2: Advance the ability to identify, predict, and mitigate harmful interference

To operate more efficiently and effectively in a congested and contested EME, DoD will improve its ability to predict, identify, and mitigate harmful interference in planning and during operations. This includes: implementing 

interference hardening requirements in DoD systems; establishing definitions of mission limiting interference 

specific to DoD missions and SDSs; implementing advanced interference mitigation technologies, and implementing battlefield interference detection technologies, reporting processes, enforcement policy, and resolution 

mechanisms. These methodologies will also be extended, in collaboration with NTIA, FCC, and industry, to 

establish non-battlefield harmful interference, spectrum etiquette, detection, and enforcement governance.

Objective 3: Modify policies, regulations, and standards to enable DoD to exploit improvements to SDS spectrum flexibility and facilitate sharing spectrum 

DoD, national and international policy and regulatory changes are needed to improve spectrum access, including DoD access to spectrum allocated in the United States for non-federal use. DoD will identify and evaluate 

incentives for spectrum sharing while developing spectrum policy (spectrum rights, service level agreements, 

and enforcement mechanisms) to share spectrum through agreements and on an on-demand basis with an 

understanding of potential risks spectrum sharing entails. This will include amending DoD processes pertaining 

to spectrum use and increasing collaboration with NTIA, FCC, and industry to develop and enforce spectrum 

regulations that are comprehensive, flexible, and support increased access for DoD SDSs. 
Goal 3: Sharpen the Responsiveness to On-going Spectrum Regulatory and 

Policy Changes 

Although SDS capability and spectrum operations improvements will eventually reduce the impact of regulatory and policy change on the military, 

DoD will sharpen its ability to assess, contribute to, and adjust to worldwide 

regulatory and policy changes being proposed (e.g., repurposing spectrum to 

accommodate wireless services). Assessments include quantifying the technical, operational, budget, and acquisition impacts of spectrum reallocations. 

DoD will propose innovative alternatives to military capability versus commercial interest discussions. Finally, 

DoD will improve the ability to implement directed spectrum changes in an orderly and non-disruptive manner.

Objective 1: Reform DoD’s ability to assess regulatory proposals 

DoD will reform its ability rapidly to assess impacts, determine equities, and evaluate the 

potential effect on missions of proposed national and international regulatory and policy 

changes. The impact assessment will span all spectrum processes, from programming 

through equipment employment. DoD will improve awareness of impacts on investments, 

acquisition, military tasks, and operations. Acquisition delays due to impacts on testing will 

be considered as well as the effect of training constraints on unit readiness. These impact 

assessments will be based on: improving DoD’s ability to quantify spectrum requirements 

of current and planned military capabilities; developing a map of frequency, SDS, and supported military tasks to be able to assess mission impacts quickly due to potential denial of 

spectrum; developing cost assessment frameworks to evaluate costs associated with spectrum repurposing; and developing improved tools and processes to decrease the time it takes to assess technical, 

operational, cost, and schedule impacts to DoD.

 

Objective 2: Expand DoD’s participation in and contributions to regulatory and policy 

discussions

DoD will mitigate the impact of regulatory and policy proposals by developing alternatives that are acceptable to 

DoD and other interested parties and proactively engaging directly in decision forums. From a national security perspective, DoD must not experience an unacceptable loss of capability as a result of regulatory and policy 

changes; while from an economic perspective, the cost and schedule to implement the changes must be feasible. 

This includes: developing innovative alternatives that consider both DoD and commercial equities where possible; increasing collaboration with the Administration, national regulators (NTIA and FCC), other Federal 

bodies, and international spectrum regulators in order to increase the understanding of DoD operations and 

the potential impacts of regulatory changes; and improving DoD’s ability to understand economic implications 

of proposed changes to spectrum regulations and policy in order to develop better alternatives.

Objective 3: Institutionalize DoD’s ability to adapt to and implement regulatory and 

policy changes 

Once a regulatory or policy change has been directed, DoD will develop executable transition plans that accommodate new spectrum uses while maintaining full military capability. DoD will engage with spectrum regulators 

regarding rules for spectrum use during any period when new entrants will be authorized to operate while DoD 

operations are still on-going. 
Governance

An effective DoD spectrum governance structure begins with strong leadership to establish direction and sustain 

momentum within the Military Departments, Services, and other government organizations. This governance 

includes the structures and processes for setting direction, establishing standards, and prioritizing spectrum 

technology investments. Proper governance will enable DoD to leverage a framework for accountability in enforcing compliance with decisions about spectrum technology. An Integrated Project Team of all vested organizations will be established to provide implementable recommendations for a governance structure that will focus 

DoD on meeting the goals of this strategy. Existing governance structures, such as, Defense Acquisition Boards 

and Science and Technology forums, will be leveraged to ensure optimum use of resources. 

SUMMARY

DoD operations – in the air, on land, on and under the sea, in 

space, and in cyberspace – are fundamentally dependent on our 

use and control of the electromagnetic spectrum. All joint functions – movement and maneuver, fires, command and control, intelligence, protection, sustainment, and information – are accomplished with systems that use spectrum. The safety and security of 

U.S. citizens, the effectiveness of U.S. combat forces, and the lives 

of U.S. military members, our allies, and non-combatants depend 

on spectrum access more than ever before. This DoD Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy sets the vision for DoD spectrum use 

– spectrum access when and where needed to achieve mission success – and provides the goals and objectives 

needed to achieve this vision.

In pursuing the vision, DoD systems must become more spectrally efficient, flexible, and adaptable, and DoD 

spectrum operations must become more agile in their ability to access spectrum in order to increase the 

opportunities available to mission planners. This includes many factors such as: increasing the operating frequency range of systems; increasing the ability to share spectrum with other systems (domestic or foreign, 

Federal or non-federal); amending DoD processes pertaining to spectrum use; increasing the speed of system 

adaptation; becoming more tolerant of interference and EA; and developing near-real-time spectrum operations 

that integrate spectrum management, network operations, EW, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. 

This strategy is a call to action. Existing technologies as well as research and development activities will be driven 
to be affordable and available to acquisition and sustainment. DoD will also seek to utilize commercially 

available wireless technologies, systems, and services where appropriate to meet mission requirements. In addition, DoD expects that military investments in spectrum technologies will augment commercial innovation not 

only to benefit DoD operations, but to benefit the national wireless ecosystem as a whole. 

Although the strategy emphasizes advancing promising spectrum-dependent technologies, other initiatives are 

identified, including improving the integration of DoD spectrum activities, improving the ability to assess and 

respond to spectrum regulatory changes, and addressing associated policy and governance. A Roadmap and 

Action Plan will be developed to supplement this strategy and will provide the actions, associated lead organizations, cost, schedule, deliverables, and metrics needed to implement and monitor the progress of the strategy 

goals and objectives. In addition, the Roadmap and Action Plan will address other fundamental underlying 

DOTMLPF activities (e.g., doctrine, personnel, education, and training) needed to implement the strategy. 

Strong leadership across DoD focused on the electromagnetic spectrum is required to establish structures and 

processes for setting direction, establishing standards, and prioritizing spectrum technology investments. Proper governance will enable DoD to leverage a framework for accountability in enforcing compliance with decisions required to meet the objectives of this strategy. SDS capabilities and associated challenges with accessing 

the electromagnetic spectrum must be highlighted in plans, budgets, research, training, and operations to inform 

decision makers. 

With defined actions and leadership, DoD will improve spectrum-dependent capabilities while increasing the 

warfighter’s ability to operate in the complex spectrum environment of tomorrow. This strategy and associated 

Roadmap and Action Plan will be updated routinely to reflect lessons learned during the implementation and the 

changing DoD spectrum needs, spectrum environment, and spectrum community. Additionally, the principles 

of this strategy will serve as the basis for DoD engagement with the Administration, other agencies, NTIA, and 

FCC regarding national-level strategic planning needed to reduce uncertainty in spectrum access for the future.

Spectrum access when and where needed to achieve mission success

Goal 1: 

Expedite the Development of SDS 

Capabilities with Increased

Spectrum Efficiency, Flexibility, 

and Adaptability

Goal 2: 

Increase the Agility of DoD 

Spectrum Operations

Goal 3: 

Sharpen the Responsiveness to 

On-going Spectrum Regulatory 

and Policy Changes

Governance
DoD CIO

6000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301 - 6000

Http://dodcio.defense.gov