U.S. Army Officials Recommend Changes to Manpack System Based on Lessons Learned in Ukraine

U.S. Army leaders are using the lessons learned through the Russia-Ukraine War to reemphasize the importance of developing top-notch electronic warfare technologies. And one piece of technology has already proved to help soldiers.

This summer marks the first anniversary of warfighters having access to the Terrestrial Layer System–Brigade Combat Team (TLS BCT) Manpack system. Despite the positive impact it has shown in year one, Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S) officials are still learning several lessons and are striving to use them to improve the device.

Firstly, officials notice that they need to conduct more effective and thorough training sessions to better prepare warfighters to use the system. More specifically, Army leaders acknowledge that they must carry out software upgrades more attentively and delicately. They found that soldiers were unprepared and unfamiliar with the Manpack device after crews updated the system’s software, according to Lt. Col. John Cross, product manager, tactical spectrum warfare, PEO IEW&S. To fix this, teams have pinpointed different ways to release Manpack software updates that may allow warfighters to be ready to go when crews apply the upgrade. One of the new methods revolves around better educating the warfighters, Cross explained.

“We have necessitated a training change because we have to train the soldiers how to pull software down and configure it on their system,” Cross said during an interview with SIGNAL Media. “That typically is not something that the electronic warfare community has done, so we want to make sure that they’re armed with everything that they need to equip, run, configure and update the system.”

“And then, we have identified some different software needs specific to electronic warfare analysis that we’re looking into implementing,” Cross added.

Army officials are also striving to integrate Manpack with command-and-control-related systems. More specifically, leaders want to apply the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool X, Maven Smart Systems, Android Team Awareness Kit and Windows Team Awareness Kit to Manpack. But as Cross explained, the systems will be used at different battle levels. The Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool X will be utilized at the tactical and operational levels; Maven Smart Systems is being used at the operational and strategic levels and Android Team Awareness Kit and Windows Team Awareness Kit are used at the tactical level, according to Cross. Integration is a change that Cross put at the top of his list and called “the name of the game at this point.”

“Our primary system that we want to integrate with is the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool X, so the new version that’s coming online that’s based on the Team Awareness Kit-X baseline,” Cross said. “We’ve already made some good strides there, but as that capability is fielded out to the force, we want to make sure that we are integrated in lockstep with them.”

“Additionally, we’re looking at Maven Smart Systems to integrate with, and that’s really more of an ask from the commander than anything else,” Cross added. “So those are the command-and-control efforts that we’re looking for. And then finally, one of the efforts that I think that you will hear some buzz about is electronic warfare reprogramming. We showed some success with that at Project Convergence Capstone 5, and I think that that’s going to be a continued area of emphasis in the electronic warfare community. And Manpack is helping to spearhead some of those experiments to test out the feasibility and infrastructure of that effort.”

PEO IEW&S personnel are also continuing to look for ways to improve the system. To ensure that Manpack is living up to its potential and meeting the needs of the warfighters, leaders have established a user feedback process that serves two main purposes: it offers soldiers a way to tell those in charge that Manpack is productive and to recommend that crews make changes to the system, according to Cross. More specifically, Army officials have created a “Manpack User Portal” so users can easily submit feedback, lessons learned or suggestions to improve the tool, Cross said.

Manpack is fully mature, and Army officials are still working to get the tool into the hands of every warfighter. They are distributing the tool to one brigade per month in fiscal year 2025 and two brigades per month in FY 2026, according to Cross.

As aforementioned, it has been about one year since Army officials put Manpack into the warfighters’ hands. The tool gives soldiers a new way to survey radio frequencies, gather signals of all kinds, protect soldiers from electromagnetic attacks and see electromagnetic spectrum waves, according to Brandon Pollachek, public affairs officer, Department of the Army. Furthermore, Manpack allows commanders to collect additional information regarding mobile electronic attacks. Having this capability can allow leaders to make more informed and, subsequently, better decisions in a more timely manner.

Army leaders have discovered several key takeaways while observing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War. Those observations have guided Army leaders to acknowledge that they need to advance and upgrade their electromagnetic spectrum and electronic warfare technologies. This led to Manpack’s inception and development.

“I think we have to take it back to the lessons learned in Ukraine,” Cross said. “I think that really was the genesis of the renewed emphasis on electronic warfare in the Army, at least in the last couple of years. And as we looked out across the force, we concluded that we needed something out there fast that gave soldiers capability and that we could learn from.”

Manpack has filled that void so far, and as leaders continue to learn additional lessons from Ukraine, they will adapt the system to fulfill the battlefield requirements at that time, Cross added.

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After one year of use, Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors officials are still improving on the Terrestrial Layer System–Brigade Combat Team Manpack system.
U.S. Army courtesy photo
 

Additionally, Army officials have yet to see a tool like Manpack, Pollachek explained.

“The system is the Army’s first tailorable, modular, terrestrial capability that allows the integration of signals intelligence and electronic warfare collection, processing, exploitation, reporting and effects capabilities within the signals intelligence Collection Team and Electronic Warfare Team elements,” Pollachek added in a press release.

Manpack was created in conjunction with the private sector. The Army awarded Mastodon Design a $99,991,845 contract for the procurement, training and fielding of the Manpack system, according to PEO IEW&S personnel.

“It seems like the soldiers were really excited about getting the capability, and we’re trying to get it out there as fast as we possibly can,” Cross said. “So, I think you’re going to continue to see good things that come out of the Manpack program.”

“I would even go a little bit further to say that it’s not only been extremely successful from a technology perspective, but also it allowed us to exercise these new acquisition authorities that have been entrusted to us,” Cross added. “And I think the Manpack team has really laid the foundation for how we are going to purchase, deliver, train and field commercial capability.”