Battlefield Bandwidth and Its Implication on Information and Decision-Making

The U.S. military has moved to an interconnected battlefield in which data can move seamlessly between air, land, maritime, space and cyber in real time. Modern battlefield networks are increasingly tasked with not only the transport of voice but also large and varied data types, including still images, video, sensor data, maps, situational awareness data and inventory information.

In addition to transporting the raw data itself, these networks must redistribute the analysis of this complex and multifaceted data from remote computing resources back to the battlefield. The collective volume of data transmission must compete for limited network bandwidth on a contested battlefield. The ability to quickly and securely collect, process and transmit data is critical to Joint All-Domain Command and Control operations with the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Space Force and the military forces of America’s allies.

Integrating capabilities across multiple domains to analyze and interpret data is essential in conducting multidomain operations across air, land, maritime, space and cyber. To face this growing demand for battlefield bandwidth, the U.S. armed forces will seek to employ a mix of both military and commercial technologies, including 5G. The U.S. Department of Defense and industry have been working together to solve battlefield bandwidth challenges—the transition from figuring out how to transport data over disparate networks to effectively integrating these disparate channels into a unified, secure, data-centric network of networks.