The U.S. Army continues efforts to field a National Security Agency-accredited Wi-Fi tool designed to provide secure wireless network connectivity for command posts on the battlefield.
The Army said Thursday the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division piloted the Secure Wi-Fi technology during an action training mission performed at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California.
Secure Wi-Fi provided users with untethered network connections that enabled wireless data, video and voice transmission across approximately 160 classified and unclassified computers and mission command systems including the Command Post of the Future command and control software system.
Col. Michael Adams, commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, said Secure Wi-Fi helps users and mission command systems set up connections faster than traditional wired command post systems.
“Secure Wi-Fi also speeds our mission military decision making process …Â With Secure Wi-Fi, I gain an exponential increase in velocity, and the deeper the Wi-Fi capabilities in the formation, the more we are able to do,” added Adams.
Adams noted he also looks to integrate the Secure Wi-Fi technology at battalion-level command posts to further bolster the brigade’s maneuver speed.
The service branch developed a small model of the platform designed to support smaller echelon command posts and the Army aims to demonstrate this version of Secure Wi-Fi at a risk reduction event in the spring.