Editing MILNET (section)

{{short description|US military network}}
[[File:MILNET-US-Geographical-1989.jpg|thumb|right|MILNET in the United States, 1989]]
{{Internet history timeline}}

In computer networking, '''MILNET''' (fully '''Military Network''') was the name given to the part of the [[ARPANET]] [[internetwork]] designated for unclassified [[United States Department of Defense]] traffic.<ref name=":0">DEFENSE DATA NETWORK NEWSLETTER [https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/museum/ddn-news/ddn-news.n26.1 DDN-NEWS 26], 6 May 1983</ref><ref>Harris, Dr. Thomas G., et al., "Development of the MILNET," ''15th Annual Electronics and Aerospace Systems Conference'', Eascon 82, IEEE CH1828 Conference Record, 1982, pp. 77-80.
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MILNET was physically separated from the ARPANET in 1983.<ref>[https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA164353.pdf ARPANET INFORMATION BROCHURE] (NIC 50003) Defense Communications Agency, December 1985.</ref> The ARPANET remained in service for the academic research community, but direct connectivity between the networks was severed for [[Computer security|security]] reasons. [[Gateway (telecommunications)|Gateways]] relayed [[electronic mail]] between the two networks. [[BBN Technologies]] built and managed both the MILNET and the ARPANET and the two networks used very similar technology. It is also known as "'''Military Net'''."<ref name=":0" />

During the 1980s the MILNET expanded as part of the [[Defense Data Network]],<ref>{{cite book |chapter= ARPANET, the Defense Data Network, and Internet |title= The Froehlich/Kent Encyclopedia of Telecommunications |author1=Alex McKenzie |author2= Dave Walden |publisher= CRC Press |year=1991 |pages= 341–375 |volume=1 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gaRBTHdUKmgC&pg=PA341 |isbn= 978-0-8247-2900-4 }}</ref> a worldwide set of military networks running at different security levels. In the 1990s, MILNET became the [[NIPRNET]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=26 June 2020|title=What Was MILNET?|url=https://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-milnet.htm|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=27 July 2020|website=wiseGEEK}}</ref>