Army Deploys New Tool to Visualize and Dominate the Electromagnetic Spectrum

The United States Army is changing its fighting capabilities by deploying the Terrestrial Layer System-Brigade fighting Team Manpack (TLS BCT) to active brigades. This cutting-edge device allows soldiers to perceive and operate in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), a critical but previously unknown warfare domain.

The TLS BCT will be initially deployed to three "Transformation in Contact" brigades, which have been selected to test cutting-edge equipment and tactics before to operational deployments. However, Army authorities ensure that the technology will be made available to all brigade combat teams over the next three years, with up to two units acquiring it each month.

Ken Strayer, the Army's program manager for Electronic Warfare and Cyber, stressed the system's widespread use, saying, "The system will be deployed to every brigade combat unit in the Army."

The TLS BCT, built under a $100 million contract with Mastodon Design, a CACI subsidiary, includes advanced features such as radio frequency surveying, signal gathering, electromagnetic attack detection, and EMS data presentation. Brigadier General Ed Barker, head of the Program Executive Office-Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors, emphasized the system's dual role in signals intelligence and electronic warfare, which enables commanders to understand and control the EMS.

The device is a more portable version of a comparable instrument formerly used by Army special operations personnel, giving tactical units a significant advantage. As the Army develops complementary technologies, such as the TLS Echelons Above Brigade (TLS EAB), these tools will ensure dominance in the EMS.

Col. Leslie Gorman, Army Capability Manager - Electronic Warfare Director, lauded the TLS BCT as a "smaller and lighter" solution tailored to the needs of brigade combat teams, indicating a substantial advancement in battlefield awareness and responsiveness.

With the TLS BCT, the Army can preserve a critical advantage in current multi-domain operations.

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