WASHINGTON \u2014 Those with boots on the ground are looking to the skies for the extended, accelerated and protected communication and data-sharing capabilities needed to meet the challenge of high-tech opponents on battlefields the world over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Army is experimenting with what it calls the aerial tier network, airborne assets<\/a> that can relay information, reduce reaction times and help resolve communication breakdowns in areas where foliage, mountains and buildings impede signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Specifically, the Army is tackling two conundrums with its experimentation: first, how to extend lines of communication on the ground, perhaps by using unmanned systems such as small drones; and second, how to quicken the pace of air-to-air and air-to-ground information exchange to address threats more efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we talk about aerial tier, that means a lot of things to a lot of people,\u201d Col. Greg Napoli, the unified network lead for the Network Cross-Functional Team, part of Army Futures Command, said at an industry meeting in Philadelphia<\/a> last month. \u201cIt can mean aerostats to some people. It can mean fixed- or rotary-wing aircraft comms relays or\u201d intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, \u201cor even weapons delivery platforms to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The improvements will be critical, Army leaders and technical experts agree, as the service transitions into multi-domain operations, or MDO, the ability to fight and win against a technologically advanced enemy on land, in the air and sea, and across cyber and space. The same thinking also considers how an adversary \u2014 such as Russia in a battle for Europe, or China in a battle for the Pacific \u2014 would contest, intercept or otherwise mess with American chatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs part of this, we\u2019re going to look at the ability, under these learning objectives, to communicate under jamming conditions,\u201d said Scott Newman, a project manager at the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, or PEO C3T<\/a>, an Army network modernization outfit. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be looking at detectability, we\u2019re going to be looking at directionality with this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t