Overview#
Ingest, store, and analyse Variable Message Format (VMF) tactical traffic through a single authenticated interface, without building a custom message store or parser.
Tactical forces run on bit-oriented, machine-readable signalling. VMF, defined by MIL-STD-47001C, is the Variable Message Format used to pass fire missions, manoeuvre orders, and status reports between command-and-control systems across allied and coalition forces, with each message carrying a recognised message type and the originator, addressing, and timing conventions that let any participating system act on the traffic without human translation. The platform accepts that traffic directly, captures the full structured header and body of each message, and makes the whole record set available to operators and software integrators through one consistent, organisation-scoped interface.
Each stored record preserves the complete message context: message number, message type, structured header and body content, originator, addressee, Date-Time Group (DTG), priority, and secrecy level. Clearance-based filtering is applied at read time so users only ever see records their accreditation permits, every ingestion is written to the audit trail for compliance and after-action review, and message volume is summarised by message type so staff can monitor communications tempo at a glance.
Key Features#
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VMF Message Ingestion. Submit a VMF tactical message and have every field captured in one operation. The record preserves message number, message type, the structured header and body content, originator, addressee, Date-Time Group, priority, and secrecy level, so nothing from the original signal is lost on the way into the store.
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Structured Header and Body Capture. Both the message header and the message body are retained as structured content alongside the message metadata, keeping the full detail of fire missions, manoeuvre orders, and status reports intact for later parsing, correlation, and review rather than collapsing them to free text.
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Single Authenticated Read Path. Retrieve stored messages through one organisation-scoped read path, with optional filtering by message type and standard pagination for large volumes. Records are returned newest-first, giving staff an immediate chronological view of recent tactical traffic.
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Clearance-Based Record Filtering. Each message carries a secrecy level, and a shared clearance-enforcement layer filters the returned record set against the requesting user's clearance at read time. Users below the required level simply do not receive the record, enforcing correct handling in multi-level secure tactical environments.
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Priority-Aware Traffic. Every message records its handling priority across the routine, priority, immediate, and flash precedence levels, so urgent fire missions and flash traffic are preserved with the precedence assigned at origin for correct downstream handling and review.
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Volume-by-Type Statistics. A dedicated statistics path summarises stored messages grouped by message type and ordered by count, so command staff can monitor communications tempo and spot shifts in message activity during exercises and operations without trawling individual records.
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Automatic Audit Capture. Every ingestion writes an audit record carrying the source standard, record identifier, secrecy level, message number, message type, and originator, along with the acting user and organisation. Nothing enters the catalog without an immutable trail behind it.
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Coalition Fusion Emission. On ingestion, each message also publishes a mission-context record into the coalition fusion layer, tagged with its source standard and secrecy level. VMF traffic therefore contributes to the same shared operational picture as other allied data sources rather than living in isolation.
Use Cases#
Tactical Command and Control#
A fires cell and its supporting command posts exchange VMF fire missions, manoeuvre orders, and status reports across multiple participating systems. Operators route that traffic into the platform and read it through one authenticated path, giving watch staff a single, consistent view of tactical messaging across the force without standing up a separate message-handling system.
Communications Tempo Monitoring#
Watch officers use the volume-by-type statistics to track operational tempo across an exercise or operation. A rising count of a particular message type can signal a change in activity, and the summarised view surfaces that shift far faster than reading individual messages would allow, supporting tempo monitoring during live operations and training events.
Multi-Level Secure Message Handling#
In an environment mixing clearances, the same message store serves users at different accreditation levels safely. Clearance-based filtering ensures each operator sees only the records permitted by their accreditation, so a single shared catalog can support staff across multiple security levels without separate stores per level.
Compliance and After-Action Review#
Because every ingestion is captured in the audit trail with its source standard, message metadata, and acting user, the message catalog provides a complete record for compliance reporting and after-action review. Analysts can reconstruct exactly which messages were received, by whom, and when.
Multi-Nation C2 Integration#
An interoperability engineer connecting a national command-and-control system to a coalition picture feeds VMF traffic into the platform through a documented interface and reads it back through one consistent surface, rather than reverse-engineering a bespoke schema. Persistence, audit, and operational-picture publication all happen in a single ingest call, shortening integration timelines for partner systems contributing tactical messages to a shared view.
Integration#
The capability is provided through a GraphQL API. One read path returns stored VMF messages for the authenticated organisation with optional message-type filtering and pagination, a second read path returns message counts grouped by message type, and a write path ingests a single VMF message. All access is authenticated with OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens in JSON Web Token (JWT) format and scoped to the authenticated organisation, consistent with the platform's identity and authorisation layer.
Messages are ingested as a structured input carrying message number, message type, the header and body content, originator, addressee, Date-Time Group, priority, and secrecy level. The ingestion response confirms the new record identifier, the message number, and success, so a calling system can immediately reconcile what it sent.
Stored records are held on the platform's normalised message model and surfaced into the coalition fusion layer as mission-context records tagged with their source standard. Downstream consumers, including the shared operational view, reporting modules, and alerting rules, work with VMF records the same way they work with other coalition and allied data sources. The benefit to a customer is direct: connect a tactical message feed once, and that traffic becomes part of the same picture, audit trail, and clearance model as everything else on the platform, with no custom store or parser to build or maintain. Webhook-driven and connector-based feeds can publish into the same write path, and the consistent read paths let partner tooling consume the catalog without bespoke adapters.
Open Standards#
- MIL-STD-47001C (Variable Message Format, VMF): The United States military standard defining the Variable Message Format, the bit-oriented message catalogue used to exchange tactical command-and-control traffic such as fire missions, manoeuvre orders, and status reports across allied and coalition forces. The platform ingests, stores, and queries messages keyed to their VMF message type and message number.
- ACP 121 (Communication Instructions -- General): The allied communications publication that defines the Date-Time Group (DTG) convention used in military messaging. Each stored message preserves its DTG so the original signal timing is retained for sequencing, correlation, and after-action reconstruction.
- GraphQL (June 2018 specification): The open query-language specification that defines the schema, query, and mutation conventions used by the platform's API surface for ingesting and retrieving VMF messages.
- OAuth 2.0 (RFC 6749) and JSON Web Tokens (RFC 7519): All API access is authenticated using OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens in JSON Web Token format, consistent with the platform's identity and authorisation layer.
Security and Compliance#
Every stored message carries a priority and a secrecy level. Record-level filtering checks the requesting user's clearance before any message is returned, so users in a multi-classification environment cannot read traffic above their permitted level, and records the user is not cleared for are withheld rather than redacted. All storage, read paths, and statistics are organisation-scoped, preventing one coalition partner from seeing another's message traffic on a shared platform.
Every ingestion is written to the audit trail with its source standard, record identifier, secrecy level, message metadata, and the acting user and organisation, providing a complete and reviewable history for compliance and after-action purposes. Network separation between classified and unclassified message sources remains the responsibility of the operator: classified tactical traffic should reach the platform over networks physically or cryptographically separated from unclassified infrastructure. The platform enforces classification and clearance policy on stored and queried data; it does not substitute for network-layer separation.
Last Reviewed: 2026-05-26 / Last Updated: 2026-05-26