FORT BELVOIR, Va. — Today’s battlefield introduces unprecedented challenges and constantly changing technologies which require today’s Warfighters to face unique and ever-evolving threats.
Soldiers have to navigate the complexities of threats evolving across a multi-domain landscape. Outmaneuvering these threats requires the continuous need for technological innovations. These innovations can provide more efficient data transfer and analysis supporting the decision-making process, along with equipment enhancements to increase Soldier lethality and overall survivability.
Leading the way in addressing several of these challenges and navigating through critical threats is the U.S. Army Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center — where scientists and engineers are dedicated to developing and delivering cutting-edge capabilities.
“Warfare today remains an ever-evolving state due to the speeds at which our adversaries can develop and adapt to technology,” said Beth Ferry, C5ISR Center director. “Non-state actors are leveraging similar commercial technology to exploit our vulnerabilities. Some of the U.S. near-peer adversaries have increased their use of commercial drone technology, electromagnetic warfare systems, and cyberattacks.”
“Fortunately, the Center and our industry partners understand this dynamic. We prioritize the science and technology development that directly counter these evolving threats.”
The once innocuous unmanned aircraft system has now transformed into a persistent global threat. U.S. adversaries, to include peer, near-peer, asymmetric and others, have adapted UAS technologies to disrupt military operations and serve as a force multiplier to further their objectives, most recently seen in support of the Southern Border mission. While commercial off-the-shelf, or COTS, solutions exist to combat these threats, some solutions lack the necessary integration capability and scalability needed for the scope of military operations.
“When it comes to counter-UAS, we are taking our intimate knowledge of the threat, the warfighter, and the operational environment to help optimize the effectiveness of counter systems and capabilities that the warfighter has at their disposal,” said Kevin White, C5ISR Center’s global operational support and threat chief. “This is all about improving their ability to ‘fight tonight’ against a threat that is evolving at rapid speed.”
Additionally, the C5ISR Center is working to identify critical gaps between evolving threats and technology vulnerabilities to not only “fight tonight” but also “fight tomorrow.”
“It’s crucial that we find the gaps between threats and our technology to feed them back into Army S&T and industry, to lead to rapidly developed and fielded technologies to improve the warfighters’ ability to “fight tomorrow,” White said. “What we don’t want, and what no one wants, are warfighters unprotected from the latest and greatest threat evolutions. We fulfill a unique wedge between the Army and industry to help warfighters get the most out of the technologies at their disposal, while also helping to ensure that their available technologies are keeping pace with the constantly evolving threats.”
To offset the lack of viable commercial options and counteract U.S. adversaries’ activities, the C5ISR Center has enhanced its C-UAS capabilities to equip Soldiers with the necessary technology to out-pace in-theater threats.
“What we are seeing is the rapid adaptability and the improvisation of the C-UAS threat evolving faster than our acquisition cycle,” said Bill Newmeyer, C5ISR Center’s response analysis and data extraction chief. “UAS have become proliferated on the battlefield.”
A motivated adversary leveraging low-cost COTS technologies can make UAS a highly efficient weapon, Newmeyer said.
“Across today’s battlefield, we’re seeing the use of COTS components integrated into the unmanned systems threats across all domains, as well as in improvised explosive devices,” said Miles Lambert, C5ISR Center’s Technical Information and Insight Branch chief.
Although IEDs attacks surged in the mid-2000s, they are still considered to be a persistent threat.
“IEDs are commonly seen as a threat of the past, when we were heavily on the ground throughout CENTCOM, specifically Iraq and Afghanistan,” Lambert said. “With the rise of UAS use becoming an everyday threat, much focus has been on countering the UAS threat going back to 2017, and more recently the UxS threats. Unfortunately, the IED threat and advancements in IED tactics, techniques, and procedures and technology advances have continued by our adversaries. We need to ensure that we are continuing to mature and advance our C-IED equipment sets and TTPs to outpace our adversaries, while we also focus on doing the same with our C-UxS equipment sets and TTPs.”
Technical experts in the Center are also developing agile and adaptive technology in advanced EW systems to counter these rising threats. To maintain communication dominance, some of the Center’s technology includes waveforms, signal processing techniques and EW platforms that operate in contested environments.
Developing technology that simply reacts to threats isn’t enough. Network resiliency is key. The Army heavily depends on interconnected networks to see through the ‘fog of war,’ command and control, and data sharing. The center is proactively developing technologies to protect against cyberattacks — ensuring continuous operations.
“A key differentiator for the C5ISR Center is its ability to bridge the gap between commercial innovation and military tactical necessity,” said Dr. Tucker Swindell, C5ISR Center’s assistant director (A), network and communications. “While commercial off-the-shelf solutions offer speed of equipping, they often fall short when faced with the rigorous demands of the battlefield — environmental factors, anti-jamming, cyber vulnerabilities, spectral diversity and the need for seamless integration with existing military networks and systems.”
As the threat landscape continues to evolve, the C5ISR Center remains committed to equipping the Army with the advanced capabilities needed to maintain overmatch and protect warfighters across the Army.
“Our number one priority is Soldier survivability and lethality,” said Newmeyer. “We are well informed on the threat for how our adversaries are developing and adapting technology. We are leveraging the best sensor and effector solutions from industry and Government organizations to rapidly bring in new technology to combat evolving threats.”
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The U.S. Army Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center is the Army’s applied research and advanced technology development center for C5ISR capabilities. As the Army’s primary integrator of C5ISR technologies and systems, DEVCOM C5ISR Center supports our networked Warfighters by identifying, developing, maturing, and rapidly integrating innovative technologies to drive continuous transformation.
DEVCOM C5ISR Center is an asset of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. DEVCOM is Army Futures Command’s leader and integrator within a global ecosystem of scientific exploration and technological innovation. DEVCOM expertise spans eight major competency areas to provide integrated research, development, analysis and engineering support to the Army and DOD. From rockets to robots, drones to dozers, and aviation to artillery – DEVCOM innovation is at the core of the combat capabilities American Warfighters need to win on the battlefield of the future. For more information, visit c5isrcenter.devcom.army.mil/.
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