To keep command posts alive, the Army wants better maneuverability and concealment

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army wants its command posts to be more agile and easier to conceal in order to withstand the heavy-duty, large-scale battles of the future, and it is seeking to inform its efforts from the invasion of Ukraine. Teaching lessons.

Historical command posts were relatively stationary, cumbersome to install and dismantle, and often identified by the heat, noise, and electronic artifacts they produced. Such a simple goal will not win the war against world powers China and Russia. Mature sensing and targeting capabilitiesan army official said.

As such, the service is investing in several projects to make its battlefield bases more robust. These include the so-called command post integration infrastructure, as well as the immature mobile and survivable command posts. The former is an intuitive combination of trucks and communication nodes and off-the-shelf commercial technology. The latter could feature remote antenna systems, enhanced camouflage technology, and self-sufficient power generation and storage.

“Five years ago, two years ago, we spent a day setting up the command post and then a day tearing it down, so the command post could not really fight,” said the command post. Deputy Program Enforcer Ward Roberts said. , Control and Communication Tactics, or PEO C3T, said in. Virtual C4ISRNET event May 16th. “Well, the idea is that a commander needs to not only steer a force, but a command post.”

“Between the ability to move command posts and efforts to reduce the ability to detect command posts, it drives two initiatives that really drive solving the question of how to make command posts viable. he added.

A conflict with China or Russia means shielding yourself from many keen eyes and ears. overhead drone, signal intelligence capabilities that can give clues to communications and other long-range sensors. Ward said commanders need to understand their footprint and how to operate the hardware they have.

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The envisioned future, coveted by the Pentagon’s broader position, is a far cry from the decades spent by the United States on counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East, where combatants were underequipped and underskilled.

“Most of our commanders have grown up without worrying about that problem. in Iraq and Afghanistan, it wasn’t a challenge,” said Roberts. “I’ve found that when you’re dealing with highly skilled enemies, you can’t sit there too long. If you sit there too long, they’ll find you. You can target it.”

A video shot in Ukraine and circulated on social media shows the dangers of sitting still. Entrenched troops often pick up airdropped ordnance, as do slow-moving vehicles.

Maj. Gen. Jess Ray, Director Army cross-network team, told reporters earlier this month that there is a clear demand for mobility. A few minutes in the same place can be the difference between life and death.

“You can’t stop it,” says Ray, who works closely with PEO C3T. “He one of the big things we’re working on is moving features for them.”