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Building effective future command, control, communications and intelligence systems will require tighter control of processes by appropriate experts, according to a speaker at a Tuesday MILCOM panel.

A niche vehicle may provide the best of both worlds.

Warfighters and emergency responders are using the same unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies for rapid area surveillance. This capability goes beyond mere direct downlinks, as the airborne craft are able to transmit data that can be reprocessed and distributed to users in near real time.

Achieving two goals will exponentially advance the power of the network.

Two of the most stubborn hurdles to effective defense networking are security and interoperability, and the two may be linked. Brig. Andy Bristow offered his own assessment of a connection between the two at the Tuesday MILCOM 2010 luncheon address.

Many defense technologies add capabilities, but tactical radios may be assuming a most unlikely role as battlefield sensors.

Bulgaria’s technology sector enjoyed healthy growth rates in the late 1990s and the early part of this century, but that growth has largely flatlined due to the worldwide banking crisis and resulting recession. With the downturn in the economy, the government has scaled back spending in some high-profile military and advanced technology efforts. In the summer of 2009, for example, the government killed a planned nanotechnology center in an effort to save 50 million Bulgarian lev, which equals roughly $33 million. The cancellation occurred just months after the government announced an agreement with IBM to build the center.

Radio technology being developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency uses electromagnetic spectrum so effectively that it has gained White House attention and is being touted by government officials for possible commercial use both domestically and internationally.

In an effort to improve situational awareness down to the squad leader level, the U.S. Marines Corps and Army intend to provide the next-generation situational awareness software on ruggedized handheld platforms similar to smart phones or personal digital assistants. The Joint Battle Command-Platform is the second increment of Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below software that was fielded more than a decade ago. The new platform is intended to provide integrated, on-the-move, timely, relevant command and control and situational awareness information at all echelons, enabling units to become more survivable and lethal. It also will improve combat effectiveness, reduce risk of fratricide, improve latency, security and interoperability within the joint environment, and provide an integrated network with increased bandwidth and a more user-friendly interface.

Cyberdefense is far from being a challenge just for the United States—there are many international aspects to this issue. In this column last month, I cited the important Foreign Affairs article “Defending a New Domain” by Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Lynn, which addresses U.S. Defense Department cyberstrategy head on. Alliance relationships depend on shared trust, especially in networked environments. Lynn’s article notes that, “Some of the United States’ computer defenses are already linked with those of U.S. allies, especially through existing signals intelligence partnerships, but greater levels of cooperation are needed to stay ahead of the cyberthreat. Stronger agreements to facilitate the sharing of information, technology and intelligence must be made with a greater number of allies.”