COMMUNICATION SKILLS


INDUSTRY INSIGHT


COMMUNICATION SKILLS


Industry helps to keep tactical communications interoperable as the Army modernizes.


by Charlie Kawasaki C


ommunications interoperability remains a persistent challenge for DOD organizations relying on a multitude of communications equipment, including handheld radios,


desktop phones, laptops and intercom systems. In a familiar rinse-and-repeat process, tactical organizations looking to improve communications capabilities acquire cutting-edge solutions to address specific battlefield use cases, deploy it to only a subset of warfighters and strug- gle to achieve fully interoperable communications across all echelons and partners.


It is a circuitous problem with which the U.S. Army is all too familiar. As organizations field more types of equipment for specific requirements, this translates to an inability for warfighters to reliably and securely communicate with each other, thereby impacting situa- tional awareness and, most importantly, mission success.


U.S. Army Futures Command leadership recently noted that enhancing interoperability of tactical radio and battlefield communications is key to enabling optimal function in future missions. As a result, the Army is currently working with industry partners to advance innovations that address these warfighter challenges. Additionally, numerous major Army tech initiatives are continuing to expand reliance on tactical


154 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2020


communications to achieve and maintain warfight- ing advantages. Tese initiatives include increasing command post mobility, delivering advanced situational awareness and communications to the dismounted warfighter, and enabling remotely operated and auton- omous systems. Without advanced and interoperable communications, these technologies will have limited effectiveness.


While the Army is planning rapid implementation of these advanced technologies that increase reliance on communications networks, it also acknowledges growing threats to communications in the form of cyber and electromagnetic warfare. To protect against these threats, as well as to mitigate other issues that can disrupt communications (such as equipment fail- ure, radio-blocking terrain, weather, etc.), the Army is putting renewed emphasis on enabling the mili- tary’s traditional communication planning framework: primary, alternate, contingency, emergency—more commonly known as PACE.


In any given mission, there must be multiple ways to communicate in case there is a communications fail- ure. Planning is underway to enable networks with multiple radio types that each provide different capa- bilities—including experimentation with LTE and 5G,


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