WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Army officials tasked with revamping the service\u2019s networks and information-sharing tools are tackling a question intrinsic to the Pentagon\u2019s preparations for possible conflicts against both China and Russia: how to ensure communications are reliable and secure in radically different environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To simultaneously provide critical links across the Indo-Pacific<\/a> and challenge an increasingly dynamic Beijing while keeping a belligerent Moscow in check across Europe, the Army is emphasizing flexibility \u2014 a core set of equipment that can be tailored to whatever a commander needs, wherever he or she may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big army,\u201d Nicholaus Saacks, the deputy program executive officer for command, control and communications-tactical, or PEO C3T, said in an interview. \u201cWe have to be prepared to fight in a lot of different places.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Island chains, watery expanses, verdant jungles, cities, valleys and mountains all impose their own difficulties on military chatter. Extreme distances inherent to the Indo-Pacific, often considered an Air Force and Navy domain, will strain connection between ground units. And towering buildings, mountains and foliage can impede signals<\/a>, complicating even close-range coordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PEO C3T, Army Future Command\u2019s Network Cross-Functional Team and other groups must consider it all when executing their work, improving data sharing, hardening lines of communication and making troops more mobile and less discoverable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s a thought of a common operating picture, but any two commanders will want to look at their operating picture a little bit differently. So we aren\u2019t as concerned that the screen looks exactly the same, because they\u2019re going to tailor it,\u201d Saacks said<\/a>. \u201cThey might want the icons a certain way. Or, this one is not as interested in that part, this one\u2019s more interested in that part, based on where they are in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t