Defense Red Switch Network

The Defense Red Switch Network ( DRSN ) is a dedicated telephone network, which provides global secure communication services for the command structure of the armed forces of the United States. The network is managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency ( DISA ), it is released for information to the level of secrecy Top Secret SCI.

The DRSN provides multistage privileged, secure voice communications and voice conferences for the National Command Authority (NCA, consisting of the President and the Minister of Defense of the United States), the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( Joint Chiefs of Staff ), the National Military Command Center ( NMCC ), the commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands prepared and their Command centers, other agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense, government agencies and NATO allies.

Facilities of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. government can get access to the network with the permission of the Chief of Staff. After this approval, the DISA will provide together with the client and appropriate military facilities the service.

The Defense Red Switch Network consists of four sub-systems: the switching system, the transmission subsystem, the timing and synchronization subsystem and the network management subsystem. The switching system consists of RED and BLACK- switches to a separation according to the RED / BLACK concept to realize. End users can then be provided with a terminal, both the access to secure and non-secure networks on.

The DRSN processed before 11 September 2001, approximately 15,000 calls per day - after the peak was 45,000 calls per day, the average in 2003 was about 25,000 calls per day. During this time the Defense Red Switched Network has been enhanced to support 18 additional homeland security initiatives.

Today, the network is also known as Multi Level Secure Voice. It is the core component of the Global Secure Voice System ( GSVS ) during peace, crisis and for the time of a conventional war, prepare for the organization of national conferences and to compounds in which both tactical and strategic communications networks are needed.