The future design of the Army’s network must start at the edge and work backward. Long gone are the days where any military service builds a network that starts at a post, camp or station and then extends to the tactical edge.

“For too long we have thought about the network from a strategic, operational and then tactical perspective. We can’t think that way anymore,” said Col. Mike Kaloostian, director of transportation and network security for Army Futures Command, at the recent Army Technical Exchange Meeting 13 in Savannah, Georgia. “We need to think tactical first, and then operational and strategic. If we’re not defining tactical edge at the platoon, we are getting it wrong.”

This realization for the Army, and really every part of the Defense Department, comes because the only thing that matters for service members is having access to data to drive real-time and critical decisions.

“We can’t go back to the cloud for everything we do. It may not be available. So what we need is to be able to process data at the tactical edge,” Kaloostian said. “What new edge computing capabilities exist that we an experiment and learn about now? How can we deploy microservices to the edge so we don’t have to go back to the cloud for everything?”

Proving ground for DoD user cases

One way the DoD is addressing the challenges around bandwidth, application latency and connectivity at the edge is by seeking to open up the Lower 37 GHz band (37-37.6 GHz) to federal and non-federal organizations.

DoD and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently completed a study that recommends creating a co-sharing framework with the Pentagon getting access to a certain section of the band that could create a “proving ground” for technological solutions for unique military user needs.

The report is the first deliverable under the National Spectrum Strategy created by the White House in November 2023. It directed DoD and NTIA to examine a key set of bands to ensure U.S. leadership in spectrum-based services now and into the future. The strategy identified the Lower 37 GHz band as one of five spectrum ranges where an in-depth study is needed to determine ways to repurpose it to drive innovation.

In a request for comment in August, the Federal Communications Commission said the current record on potential uses of the 37 GHz band is limited. But public and private sector experts “foresee uses including fixed wireless broadband, point-to-point links, Internet of Things networks, device-to-device operations, augmented reality applications, smart cities, smart grids and as part of private networks.”

In the DoD/NTIA report, experts also said the band is “well-suited to deliver high speed, low latency multigigabit and 5G services over short and medium distances.” The report also says “the band’s ability to support concentrated deployments over small geographic areas advances sharing.”

More research needed

It’s those potential uses for the band that is attractive to the Pentagon. In the DoD/NTIA study, the military laid out two potential areas where it wants to pursue further research.

The first is around unmanned systems.

“This spectrum can provide unmanned systems with high bandwidth data for force protection video, communication, lifesaving medical supplies, logistics, sensor power restoration and undersea and maritime capabilities,” the report stated.

The second area is around wireless power transfer. Within that area, DoD says it would like to research whether the spectrum could deliver untethered power to and through unmanned systems, wireless communication systems, underwater vehicles, sensor recharging, satellite-to-aircraft, space-to-moon and several other areas.

“DoD is interested in collaboration with industry on wireless power transfer equipment development, which would operate within the confines of the military priority band,” the report stated. “Wireless power transfer to vehicles has the potential to benefit DoD in many ways as this technology resolves battery drainage challenges for mobile vehicle radios, provides tighter beamwidths, is more cost effective and may offer better safety standards than the current power transfer at higher frequency bands.”

Reducing the power need for systems and applications is a major focus for the Army.

Lt. Col. Jon Nielsen, 1-502nd battalion commander in the 101st Airborne Division, said at the TEM 13 event that three big focus areas the service is working on as part of their command and control fix program are:

• Power management. He said there is a big power requirement for all hardware capabilities. He said a power recharge capability going from a 24-hour window to 72-to-96 hours would make a huge difference.
• Reduce weight. He said managing the individual hardware is difficult because they all come with added weight and packing room is limited. He said reducing power and weight requirements is a requirement with any new C2 solution.
• Building interoperability with all systems. Nielsen said ensuring all systems and applications are interoperable remains a long-term goal.

“We now have data at the edge. We can communicate faster and more accurately and it’s a significant improvement for our team and our lethality,” Nielsen said. “But we have to consider over time how to improve our capabilities, especially getting data to the edge. We are working toward finding an edge computing solution where we can transmit data more quickly.”

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