ABSTRACT
The three navies' extensive history of working together in the Persian Gulf led to a great deal of familiarity, but at the same time the emergence of new equipment and innovative technology ensured that there was no room for complacency. The United States Navy (USN) was pivotal in the critical areas of command and control, communications, intelligence and logistics. The USN was central to all aspects of coalition integration. They were not, however, directly involved in naval gunfire support (NGS). Therefore, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal Navy (RN) needed to be interoperable with each other, but also needed to be able to interoperate effectively with the USN. Dramatic transformations in communications technology between the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) had a significant effect on interoperability. The important roles undertaken by the RAN and RN during the maritime interception phase encouraged both navies to seek access to Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNET).
