Army wants $537 million boost for tactical network, driven by radio needs

The U.S. Army tactical network acquisition team requested a substantial $537 million increase for fiscal 2022 in an overall budget request with sizable cuts to other service programs.

The $2.3 billion budget for the Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical signals the Army’s commitment to modernizing its force as it prepares for Joint All-Domain Command and Control, which is how the Pentagon envisions the battlefield of 2030 and beyond, with data passing quickly and uninterrupted to soldiers on the ground and in planes in the air. The added money, part of the Army’s proposed $2.6 billion for network modernization, would accommodate the service’s plan to field radios and other advanced communications upgrades to soldiers.