As the Australian Defence Force (ADF) continues to adapt to the challenges of modern and future warfare, a deeper understanding of the cyber domain has become increasingly vital.

COHERE, the ADF’s cyber domain concept, is a unified framework produced by the Defence cyber community to guide how Defence integrates and operates across the cyberspace and electromagnetic spectrum.

The development of COHERE followed direction from the Chief of the Defence Force to establish clear concepts across all operational domains (land, air, maritime, space and cyber) to help shape the future force.

For the cyber domain, this required close collaboration across a broad range of disciplines and communities to bring all the pieces together.

One of the key contributors to COHERE, Sophie Zardins, joined the cyber futures team nearly three years ago, bringing a strong mix of civilian cyber expertise and military experience that proved invaluable in shaping the concept.

“Before taking on this role, which was my first working in government as a civilian, I spent five years as a cyber security consultant, giving me a broad background across the cyber domain,” Ms Zardins said.

“Alongside that, my service as a soldier in the Army Reserve enabled me to bring a perspective that many of my civilian colleagues didn’t have.

“COHERE was a major collaborative effort across the cyber community, drawing on expertise from a wide range of areas to bring all aspects of the cyber domain together.”

While Defence has operated in the cyber domain for many years, there had not previously been a sovereign Australian product that provided a unified understanding of the domain or the full spectrum of activities within it.

COHERE addressed this critical gap by challenging common misconceptions about cyber operations and highlighting Defence’s role across the broad spectrum of cyber operations – from operations through the electromagnetic spectrum, to defensive and offensive cyber activity.

'COHERE was a major collaborative effort across the cyber community, drawing on expertise from a wide range of areas to bring all aspects of the cyber domain together.'

The concept places emphasis on protecting information flows, electromagnetic protection and defensive cyber operations that support the integrated force every day across all domains.

“When people think about cyber, they often think of offensive actions like exploiting vulnerabilities, but that’s actually a small part of what Defence does,” Ms Zardins said.

“Cyber capabilities, from radios to laptops, enable the flow of information across the integrated force, creating cyber lines of communication. Protecting those information flows through electromagnetic protection and cyberspace security operations is a critical, everyday task.”

Since its publication, COHERE has evolved through digital modelling, with the Space and Cyber Capabilities Division developing representations to map capability delivery and clarify requirements.

These models now support capability managers, business analysts and system engineers by improving clarity of intent and identifying areas where they need more information.

“It is incredibly difficult to get all the detail needed into a 20-page document when it has to cover all cyber domain capabilities,” Ms Zardins said.

“The modelling provided greater detail on what COHERE requires of the ADF and communicated its intent in a way that is more accessible to business analysts and system engineers responsible for capability development and acquisition.” 

According to Ms Zardins, digital modelling has the potential to transform how Defence manages capability.

“It will create a shared understanding of requirements from those who conceptualise and write strategy, through to industry partners delivering the capability,” she said. 

“Ultimately, the modelling ensures that Defence and industry can hold each other to account and deliver value for money.”

Defence has already recognised the potential of digital engineering through the release of the Defence Digital Engineering Strategy 2024.