Modern warfare is won and lost on data. Data interoperability is the lifeblood of the modern battlefield — the ability to get the right information, to the right people, across every domain, classification, and coalition network, at the speed of decision.

Modern defense operations require data that flows freely across domains, nations, and classifications — while remaining under sovereign control at every step.

NVD operationalizes controlled interoperability: data is instantly accessible to every authorized recipient across any domain or classification, yet invisible and irrevocable to everyone else — anytime, anywhere, without the need for trusted networks.

NVD is capable to resolve over 80% of today’s cyber threats defined in the BSI IT Grundschutz-Compendium — assessed following two years of rigorous evaluation by the German Armed Forces.

The Operational Challenge: Security vs. Interoperability

Defense systems span multiple classifications, nations, and technical domains. Today’s security architectures force a trade-off: increasing interoperability weakens security, while stronger security blocks operational data flow.

As operations become more connected and time-critical, these limitations break the operational loop. And while the taken measures attempt to contain risk, they reinforce fragmentation and prevent secure, scalable interoperability.

The Strategic Direction: Data-Centric Security and Zero Trust

To resolve the conflict between security and interoperability, defense organizations are converging on a clear target state: security that follows the data, not the infrastructure.

Rather than protecting networks, systems, or locations, protection and control are applied directly to the information itself — across its entire lifecycle.

Zero Trust strengthens access control. Data-Centric Security (DCS) strengthens the protection of the data itself.
Together, both approaches define the direction of modern security architectures in defence.

However, most defence environments have not yet been able to fully operationalize this model.

• Zero Trust stops at users and systems — data becomes exposed once access is granted
• The current DCS maturity level is just providing data-labeling and binding capabilities to allow data flows between domains. Neither encryption at-rest or in-use, nor data lifecycle protection is standardized yet
• DCS for tactical or streaming data is not yet defined
• Centralized key management creates single points of failure
• Coalition operations require sovereign control over encryption and revocation
• Degraded and contested environments break centralized architectures

From Strategy to Operational Capability: The NVD Data Layer

The strategic direction defines the target state – one protected infrastructure with a logical layer to exchange data seamlessly across domains and different security classifications.
The NVD Data Layer makes it operational.

Instead of relying on trusted networks, centralized key servers, or policy enforcement points, NVD embeds protection directly into the data object itself.

Data becomes non-visible by default.

NVD provides solutions for the needed capabilities planned for future DCS capabilities already now:

• Data lifecycle encryption
• Distributed key management
• DCS-Fähigkeiten ohne Overhead für taktische Daten und selbst für binäre Datenformate wie Variable Message Format (VMF)
• Encryption and sharing capabilities for streaming data, like video, audio, Infrared etc.
• Robustness and efficiency to operate even in DDIL environments Robustheit und Effizienz für den Einsatz auch in DDIL-Umgebungen

NVD can only be reconstructed and used when cryptographic conditions are satisfied — independent of where it is stored, processed, or transmitted.

This shifts security from infrastructure control to data control.
When protection is embedded directly into the data, a new architectural layer emerges — one that sits between infrastructure and applications.

This layer:

• Separates security from network boundaries
• Allows data to move without being exposed
• Maintains sovereign control across domains

However, the main goal is the operative value by having any kind of information immediately available, shortening the time from sensor to effector.

This includes the ability to establish a real-time dross-domain Common Operational Picture (COP), leveraging all sources needed to take the right decisions.

The following drawing illustrates the NVD Data Layer and the services which are already available to exchange information seamlessly across domains. The services depicted also prove that NVD is data format agnostic, allowing to protect everything binary in an efficient manner, from huge video streams, over small tactical data, to whole application setups within container.

Deploying the NVD Data Layer in Defense

The NVD Data Layer is not a standalone system.
It is a security foundation deployed through mission-specific components to add operative value.

Each component extends the same data-centric protection into different operational use case.

NVD Tactical Gateway

Enables controlled data exchange across classification levels and coalition boundaries – without exposing content in transit or at rest.

Designed for
selective release,
sovereign control
and tactical-edge
deployment.

NVD Siteware HQ Plugin

Embeds data-centric protection directly into operational command systems, allowing mission data remain secure inside existing workflows.

Designed for
trusted
collaboration,
without altering
operational processes.

NVD Streamhub

Protects live sensor, ISR and operational data streams while enabling controlled redistribution across domains and partners.

Designed for high-tempo
operations,
ISR dissemination,
and coalitionsawareness
within coalitions.

Every use case operationalizes the same principle:
security embedded in the data — independent of infrastructure, domain, or trust boundary. Efficient, flexible, yet controlled exchange and usage of information.

And this is just the beginning. Or defined target is to get NVD on any sensor, any device, any vehicle, any system to get the most out of all information sources available – without operative risk!

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