{"id":49063,"date":"2019-06-15T19:45:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T19:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/15\/the-next-key-to-the-army-network-air-ground-integration\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:41:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:41:27","slug":"the-next-key-to-the-army-network-air-ground-integration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2019\/06\/15\/the-next-key-to-the-army-network-air-ground-integration\/","title":{"rendered":"The next key to the Army network: air-ground integration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army wants greater network integration with its air and ground units and has started working with industry to make that process more seamless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service leaders point to significant gaps in today\u2019s network architecture enabling aircraft to communicate with ground units and vice versa. But, they say, forces in the future will have to operate over significant distances and do so under a near constant jamming threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of units and rifle squads in the 101st [Airborne Division] right now, that squad leader\u2019s radio in many cases can\u2019t interface with similar radios in adjacent units or the helicopter that just delivered him or her to an objective area. Or the helicopter that\u2019s providing close air support \u2026 can\u2019t pass data with it,\u201d Maj. Gen. Brian Winski, the division\u2019s commander, said in Nashville, Tennessee, May 30. \u201cWe need that capability for ground forces to be able to talk to their aviation partners and have that inextricable link that makes us so incredibly powerful. We also have to collectively figure out how we\u2019re going to communicate over significantly increased distances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To solve these problems, Army leaders from the aviation and networking community gathered in Nashville, Tennessee at the end of May to hash out the challenges they face with industry and the operational community. The forum was a venue for members of the operational community to voice their concerns and provide examples of issues they faced while deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis air to ground focus \u2026 is the thing we\u2019ve really got to crack the code on if we are going to penetrate deep into an [anti-Access\/area denial] environment \u2026 they\u2019ve got to be able to communicate,\u201d Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, director of the network cross functional team, said at the event. \u201cContested in space, contested in cyber, there are no easy answers to that wicked problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallagher stressed to the industry representatives that it\u2019s up to their engineers to \u201chelp us crack the code to making sure we have assured network transport in a contested environment, terrestrial, aerial and space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t