This module can be taken as a Short Course for Credit or a Standalone Short Course.

Please go to the 'Upgrade to a professional qualification' section for more information.


The aim of this course is to provide the students with an understanding of networks in a modern military electronic sensor or communications system, their vulnerabilities and how they can be protected.

At a glance

  • Dates
    • 17 - 21 Mar 2025
  • Duration5 days
  • LocationSWAG合集 at Shrivenham
  • Cost£2,350 - Short Course for Credit fee 

    £2,100 - Standalone Short Course fee  Concessions available

What you will learn

On successful completion of the module you will be able to:

  • recognise how a network may be exploited in a military context to support information age operations and to identify the benefits of such support,
  • identify the various components of a network and its architecture, defining the protocols and address structure, such that network infrastructure solutions can be critically assessed,
  • describe and explain the operation of a wireless LAN,
  • identify the threats to a network and evaluate the responses and defence measures to counter these threats,
  • propose a secure wireless network structure, evaluating the level of security that such a network can provide against likely threats,
  • critically analyse trends and technological developments in networking.

Core content

Fixed Network Infrastructure

  • introduction to networks: switching methods; LANs and WANs; generic network vulnerabilities,
  • network-enabled capability and network-centric warfare,
  • network Infrastructure,
  • introduction to network protocols,
  • internet protocol (IP),
  • transport protocols,
  • network addressing: IPv4, DHCP and IPv7; NAT,
  • routing and routing algorithms,
  • network design: VPNs,
  • network performance: delay, throughput, reliability, errors,
  • integrated and differentiated services: multimedia services,
  • voice-over-IP,
  • network security,
  • offensive information operations: computer network attack,
  • defensive information operations: computer network defence.

Wireless networks (WLANs)

  • infrastructure-based and infrastructureless WLANs,
  • ad hoc networks, sensor networks, grids, routing in ad-hoc networks, mobility,
  • larger scale radio networks, timeliness, resource reservation,
  • wide-area networks, storage area networking (SAN),
  • contemporary wireless networks: 802.11 (Wifi), 802.16 (WiMax), 802.15 (Bluetooth, Zigbee), 802.20 (MBWA),
  • wireless security: threats, WEP, WPA, secure networks.

Upgrade to a professional qualification

When taken as a Short Course for Credit, 10 credit points can be put towards the Communications Electronic Warfare PgCert or the Military Electronic Systems Engineering MSc.

Find out more about short course credit points.

 

Speakers

Dr Philip Nobles

Concessions

A limited number of MOD sponsored places are available

Location and travel

Cranfield Defence and Security (CDS) is a Cranfield School based at the Ministry of Defence establishment on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire borders.

Shrivenham itself lies in the picturesque Vale of the White Horse, close to the M4 motorway which links London and South Wales. It is 7 miles from Swindon, the nearest town, which lies off the M4 at the hub of Britain’s motorway network. 

Bath, Cheltenham, Bristol and Oxford are all within an hour’s drive and London less than two hours away by car.

All visitors must be pre-booked in at reception by the person they are visiting on the campus.

Click here for further location and travel details.

How to apply

To apply for this course please use the online application form.

Read our Professional development (CPD) booking conditions.