ARMY AL&T
T
he Army expects future large-scale combat operations to be fast-paced and complex, with forces combating a variety of harsh terrains and environments, under constant enemy observation and attack.
Two intertwined capabilities underpin a commander’s ability to overcome the demands of such chaotic conflicts: the network and the command and control (C2) systems that run on it. Together they provide commanders and their maneuver formations with the assured voice and data exchange, common operational picture and access to offensive and defensive digital fires needed to combat rapidly changing operational environments.
To be survivable in future dynamic large-scale combat operations, instead of tethered to large, static, equipment-laden command posts, commanders and their C2 systems need to be on-the-move.
“If you watch the news and [look at] the lessons learned from all the operations we’re assigned to, [it’s apparent that] we can’t continue to have this huge command post and be survivable,” said Brig. Gen. Marne Sutten, deputy chief of staff G-6, Army Forces Command, during the latest Army Technical Exchange Meeting (TEM) with government and industry partners. “Commanders want a command post that they can utilize at the time of their choosing … to give them the flexibility” they need to conduct different missions.
During theDecember 2023 TEM 11 in Savannah, Georgia, Army leaders discussed current efforts to design a network architec- ture that addresses the ever-increasing need for C2 on-the-move. Tey stressed the importance of aligning technology, people and processes to achieve the overarching unified network needed for resilient data exchange. Te goal is also to make network and C2 systems more intuitive and easier to use, while reducing footprint and lowering electromagnetic signature.
“[To be] survivable, we need to be transport agnostic,” said Col. Rob McChrystal, commander of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, during TEM 11. “I’m talking about redundancy and maximum options, whether it’s transport from the terrestrial layer to multiple types of low Earth orbit to medium Earth orbit to geosynchro- nous Earth orbit [satellite communications]. We need to have those options, and ultimately, we want to get to the point where that's automated, and we’re able to auto transition when they fail.”
McChrystal emphasized several key characteristics he needs for his formation to fight mobile and dispersed. Tese include enhancing survivability through a transport-agnostic network
design that maximizes and automates numerous signal trans- port options; and smaller, more flexible systems that can adapt to different missions. Interoperability with joint and multina- tional mission partners plays a critical role, he said, as well as the need to be data-enabled, with a nonproprietary, easily inte- grated data fabric. Looking forward, predictive data to support commanders’ decision-making—leveraging capabilities such as human-machine teaming, automated running estimates and simulations—will be imperative to a future fight against a peer or near-peer adversary, he said.
“Tis is important because of the pace of technological change,” McChrystal said. “Tat means we have to understand faster; we have to understand risks; we have to understand opportunities faster and we have to make faster decisions.”
Te Army is looking to its industry partners to help it reach its C2 on-the-move network goal and will welcome both program- matic and technical input to help design capabilities that increase survivability, provide flexibility and deliver network resiliency for commanders to fight disaggregated or collected regardless of geographic or mission constraints.
REQUIREMENTS The Army command post directed requirement describes command and control on-the-move as moving or rapid halts in minutes. To meet these requirements, the service must integrate C2 information systems and physical infrastructure to execute core C2 functions. C2 on-the-move systems need to be modu- lar and adaptable based on the different needs of each echelon, formation type, mission and operational environment.
“Te command post is just the physical space in which the commander and staff conduct the functions or command and control and doesn’t have to be any specific … location,” said Col. Charles Ford, Army capability manager for mission command/ command posts within the Mission Command Capability Devel- opment Integration Directorate. “It doesn’t always have to be in the vehicle. It might be in a garage, it might be in a farmhouse, it might be just dispersed on a city block. We want to be modu- lar and adaptable.”
Te goal is the continuity of command and control, to ensure a resilient network transport that can rapidly recover from signal loss and degradation, and maximize both effectiveness and surviv- ability, Ford said. “We often hear this false dichotomy: If you’re survivable, you’re not effective. If you’re effective, you’re static. We need to balance them, so they can both grow together.”
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