SOCOM Has Solved the Military’s 'Tower of Babel' Problem

[rangerrebew]

SOCOM Has Solved the Military’s 'Tower of Babel' Problem
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By Dan Gouré
March 20, 2020
 

According to the Bible, all humanity once spoke the same language. But when the people sought to build a tower that would reach to the Heavens, God responded by causing them to suddenly speak different languages so they could not communicate and work together to complete the Tower of Babel. The word derived from this story, babble, means a confusion of sounds. Over the decades, the U.S. military has created a “Tower of Babel” problem in the form of incompatible communications devices, waveforms, data protocols and encryption schemes. In an era when military forces must be integrated to allow information in all forms to pass rapidly between systems, platforms and devices, the inability to communicate could result in lives lost and defeats suffered. Fortunately, a solution has been developed and is in widespread use with U.S. Special Operations Command.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/03/20/socom_has_solved_the_militarys_tower_of_babel_problem_115132.html?mc_cid=002f5e9143&mc_eid=ba816b4660

[PeteS in CA]

Military electronics development and life cycles are not very compatible with the pace of technological advancement. At a previous employer, they often produced a set of prototypes, heard nothing about the project (other than repairs) for 3-5 years, and then got production orders ... which triggered the need to find and source functional replacements for obsoleted parts. And then there were the projects that had finished their production cycles and ten years later got a large new production order - obsolete parts nightmare!

I'm on the hardware side of tech, but I'm sure the software/datacom side of military electronics has similar problems with developing interfaces, communication protocols, and computer languages (Ada anyone?).

[sneakypete]

 

In an era when military forces must be integrated to allow information in all forms to pass rapidly between systems, platforms and devices, the inability to communicate could result in lives lost and defeats suffered. Fortunately, a solution has been developed and is in widespread use with U.S. Special Operations Command.

@rangerrebew

Back in the Middle Ages,when I was a young soldier,we solved this problem by stealing/buying/trading for survival radios issued to US Pilots. This allowed us to talk directly to the pilots doing strafing and bombing runs over us so they put it where we needed it,and not on us. This is crucial when you are calling in cannon runs so close you are getting hit with debris from the bullet strikes,and in  some cases people who don't have their heads down get hit with them. No middle man to give the wrong coordinates,misspeak,etc,etc,etc.
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In some cases you just put an guy on a helicopter with a radio or ,and have him monitoring those radios in the local TOC center,and ONLY him speaking to the people on the ground and any relief or support force. You wouldn't have an infantryman operating a radio and directing naval operations,or an engineer directing air cover for a infantry unit,so why would you have someone in the Navy,USMC,or USAF directing infantry operations?

And there IS one ABSOLUTE truth when it comes to combat operations,and that is the people on the ground in combat MUST be able to speak directly with their combat support units with no freaking "REFM filters".