ARLINGTON: Like the army restarts his battlefield radio networks, it ditches elaborate custom military waveforms and moves to simpler—but more capable—commercial radio protocols. The move is in progress three fronts, major gen. David Bassettthe two star Program Executive Director for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical (PEO C3T), says:
- The Army is now moving its backpack-mounted tactical radio, the Manpack, from the milspec Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) to the commercial TSM waveformwith both Harris and Rockwell Collins now integrate TSM into their radios. (Special Operators already using TSM).
- They are currently selecting suppliers to do the same for their Leader handheld radio, used mainly by juniors and non-commissioned officers on foot. Bassett staff told me to expect an award sometime in September.
- They are exploring alternatives to Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) as the “backbone” of the Army’s tactical network. TSM is one candidate, but there are others, including some still in development, Bassett told me in an interview here.
This is all part of a a broader effort to restore the Army’s command, control, and communications (C3) networks for war against a high-tech great power. Speaking at a cyber and networking conference held here on the 2nd of August by Association of the US ArmyBassett said the Army will conduct operational testing of new command systems — including two lower-complexity alternatives to complement the current backbone. JBC-P — and start putting them in, he said, “this fall.”
major gen. David Bassett
Why the rush? Army systems like WIN-T (Warfighter Information Network – Tactical) worked adequately while we had large bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, with enough time to establish extensive infrastructure and minimal enemy interference. However, China and Russia have cutting edge cyber and electronic attackers to hack network software powerful electronic warfare units to jam its transmissions and long-range precision guided missiles that can easily targets large stationary command posts. So last year Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley I ordered an upgrade crash program, cancel scheduled WIN-T upgrades in favor of new technologies, many of the booming commercial IT sector.
“It was kind of a shock to the system,” the Army’s chief information officer, Lieutenant General Bruce Crawford, said at the AUSA conference. “The Army has come forward and said there are some programs it wants to stop and some things it fundamentally wants to do differently.”
Attractive to industry
General Milley’s announcement met with initial resistance, including from the Capitol Hill, but generated strong industry interest. Major General Bassett himself had come to the AUSA conference from a meeting in Raleigh, one corner of North Carolina. flourishing “research triangle”, where he briefed 400 representatives from around 126 companies.
An Army soldier using a backpack radio during a Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) exercise.
“Down in Raleigh, the challenge I gave them was to learn how you fit into our network design. Offer solutions that will fit our network,” Bassett said. “We want them to become part of that infrastructure instead of competing with it.”
Traditional Army procurement has relied on specialist defense contractors to develop bespoke solutions to military specifications, which has created a patchwork of incompatible and difficult-to-update systems for different purposes, some as narrow as managing a base’s network infrastructure. So the new approach is for the military to define common standards, preferably ones that are already widely used commercially, and then open competition to all comers whose products meet the standard. This kind open architecture it allows the military to plug and play the latest technology as needed without having to overhaul the underlying infrastructure each time.
Because front-line troops can’t roll miles of optical fiber behind them as they maneuver, battlefield networks must be wireless. This brings us back to radio waves. While the settings of old-fashioned radios are largely fixed, modern software-defined radios (SDRs) can change the way they operate just by loading a different program. A waveform is a set of software instructions controlling things like wavelength, encryption, fast frequency changes on avoiding hostile jamming and how to addition and subtraction network radio stations when they are switched on and off, muted or moved.
Russian “Krasukha-2” radio electronic warfare system with antenna in place. The system has reportedly been used in Syria.
The Pentagon spent billions on development custom waveforms such as Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) for small ground units and Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) for large formations of air and ground vehicles. But the commercially developed ones TSM waveform it scales better for large numbers of users and is generally less complex, more stable and more capable, Bassett told me after his talk.
But can trading systems hold up on the battlefield against high power jamming, a threat that doesn’t exist in the civilian world? “If you have a strong enough silencer, you can take it down any kind com systems,” Bassett told me, “but you have to be close to do it, and you have to have enough power.”
The solution is twofold. First, Bassett said, “we want to make these systems harder to take out from a distance,” so the enemy jammer must either get closer, increase power, or both, becoming an easier target . Second, he said, “they can’t jam you everywhere all the time, (so) it’s also about having multiple redundant means of communication.” That’s another reason to changing the supply of the army so you can buy a wide range of commercial products.
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