InstantConnect Hero Image

ICE and U.S. Army strengthen C2 post survivability

February 4, 2025

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

How the ICE push-to-talk platform helps protect command posts at the tactical edge

When facing near-peer adversaries in contested environments, keeping Command and Control (C2) posts secure and operational depends on more than mobility and firepower—it requires secure, adaptable, and resilient communications.

To achieve this, the U.S. Military is employing a multi-technology approach that includes incorporating advanced communications solutions like the Instant Connect Enterprise™ (ICE) tactical communications platform.

This strategy focuses on:

  • Ensuring mobility and redundancy: Creating survivable networks that remain operational, even under attack.
  • Reducing RF exposure: Limiting radio frequency (RF) emissions to minimize detection risks.
  • Distributing communications infrastructure: Physically dispersing radios, antennas, and transmitters to obscure the location of actual command posts.
  • Maintaining the flow of intelligence: Ensuring seamless communication up and down the chain of command, keeping the tactical edge connected to mission-critical decisions.
  • Operating in disconnected environments: Supporting seamless communication in serverless or DDIL scenarios where traditional networks fail.

From accelerated decision-making to continuous battle-readiness, ICE helps keep C2 posts operational under even the most challenging conditions — so frontline units can adapt, react, and win.

“[Our aim is] to modernize how the U.S. Army will survive and continue to defeat their adversaries…”

— U.S. Army Commander, 2024

What sets ICE apart from other tactical communications solutions?

In multi-domain operations and battlespaces, flexibility is as vital as connectivity. ICE has several key features that empower units to stay connected across all fronts of battle when operational failure isn’t an option:

  • Interoperability across networks and devices: ICE seamlessly integrates devices and networks over IP, including mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), radios, LTE/5G, satellite, Wi-Fi, and phone systems. This enables teams — using any mix of specialized military radios (e.g., MANET radios), Combat Net Radios (e.g., SINCGARS systems like the AN/PRC-152, or modern multiband radios like the AN/PRC-117G), SATCOM radios, smartphones, laptops, desktops, and more — to communicate effortlessly in a unified, IP-based environment.
  • Tactical (serverless) Mode: Keeps teams connected in disconnected environments while integrating seamlessly with server-based systems to connect everyone up and down the line.
  • Minimized RF and visual footprints: Reduces radio frequency emissions and infrastructure, lowering the likelihood of detection and enabling lower Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) for maximum agility.
  • Rapid deployment: Channels and networks can be set up and shared in a hurry, via the ICE Wizard admin tools and mission QR codes.
  • Voice plug-in for ATAK: Adds talk channels to the situational awareness app used by warfighters every day.

These tools help keep units connected, agile, and mission-ready—while enabling them to operate more covertly in contested environments.

“Throughout the history of the U.S Military, there has been a continuous effort to adapt to the immediate threat, while simultaneously forecasting how to defeat future threats.”

— U.S. Army Commander, 2024

Additional resources on C2 post survivability

Learn more about how the U.S. Military is enhancing covert operations by protecting command posts:

Army Cyber Institute
Defense Scoop
Breaking Defense