The US Army will need to tap into commercial technologies to make its command posts adaptable to modern warfare.
This is according to Mark Kitz, the service’s program executive office head for command, control and communications–tactical, in response to Chief of Staff Gen. Randy A. George’s call to prioritize effective command and control capabilities.
Command posts are expected to play a pivotal role in case of an armed conflict, likely making them the first targets of enemy attacks.
Among the ways to make command posts adaptable to potential wars in the future is to transform them into small, roving, camouflaged centers capable of avoiding hostile missiles, according to a report by Defense One.
But in order to do that, Kitz stressed that commercial or commercially-derived technologies will be needed.
For example, he said tapping into commercial communications networks will allow the US Army to be unrecognizable to adversaries by camouflaging it within commercial communications traffic.
This is more effective than setting up military communications links that are easily detectable by sophisticated enemy systems.
Taking Lessons From Germany
During the annual meeting of the Association of the US Army, George revealed that he visited the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany and witnessed its “innovative command and control.”
He said the unit’s commander uses five Stryker armored vehicles digitally connected across the battlefield to perform command and control.
He further stressed that the US Army can use the same strategy or make it much simpler by utilizing tablets to replace large operations centers.
“The world and warfare are changing rapidly. We will stay ahead of our adversaries,” George remarked. “And so, continuous transformation means iteratively adapting and evolving how we fight, how we organize, how we train, and how we equip.”
