The Criticality of Reliable Communications in Near-Peer Conflicts

One hundred years ago, U.S. Army General John J. Pershing declared: “Infantry wins battles. Logistics wins wars.” Today, as the U.S. military positions itself to deter and, if necessary, fight and win a war in the vast expanses of the Indo-Pacific, the famous quote still rings true.

As the United States and its allies set up outposts and forward operating bases across the region, critical resupply missions could make the difference between winning and losing. Reliable communication is critical to enabling land, sea, and air superiority and command and control.

It’s encouraging that the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) “recognizes that interoperable, low-cost, mesh radio systems present unique benefits and capabilities to the Army.” Further, the Committee’s report “encourages the Department of the Army to broadly adopt these systems to support tactical units’ communications, and command and control needs.”

goTenna shares the perspective of the HASC's view on the essential importance of maintaining a balanced partnership with the industry. Commercial-off-the-shelf capabilities are a key tool in the U.S.’ arsenal and for partner forces - they can be produced quickly, in quantity, and are less restricted by export controls - and in many missions can serve equally as effective as specialized, government mission technologies. There are, however, missions that require more bespoke, specialized capabilities. Ultimately balance is the key, ensuring that we are procuring the most cost-effective capability for the mission to maximize DoD budgets. The language in the HASC version of the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act report is an acknowledgment that commercial communications tech is essential to defeat a near-peer adversary. 

This is a key example of why goTenna has built communications solutions, like SkyWave™, combining the best of commercial and government technology for our warfighters. The SkyWave solution leverages the extensive fielding of High-Frequency (HF) ALE, which has been used in commercial and secure military links for decades - particularly because it has long reach and has very low visibility on the RF spectrum -  especially compared to satellite and conventional alternatives. An ideal, layered approach to operating in a contested or spectrum-denied environment like INDOPACOM involves deploying low-cost mesh systems and utilizing HF-ALE to backhaul situational awareness data beyond the area of operation.

The House report also affirms the importance of encrypted digital messaging. Gone are the days when we can trust that the voice on the other side of the phone or radio is a real person. With voice spoofing on the rise, encrypted messaging is emerging as a more secure alternative. Our leaders must strike the right balance between voice and data communications on the tactical edge to keep our troops connected and safe.

We are entering an era where spectrum dominance is at the forefront of conflict - and it is encouraging to see Congressional leadership recognize the need to modernize capabilities to meet this new challenge.