"Our traditional PACE plans — primary, alternate, contingency, emergency — ways to [communicate] are dead," Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane told the TechNet Augusta conference, cutting to the heart of a problem the Army now says requires a rethink of how units stay connected under electronic attack.
I Corps commander Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane: sequential PACE is brittle
Speaking at the annual TechNet Augusta conference, I Corps commander Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane framed the issue in stark terms: sequential PACE (primary, alternate, contingency, emergency) contingency plans — the familiar ladder soldiers have relied on — no longer meet the threat posed by concurrent, multi‑band jamming. "A sequential PACE plan, predicated on responding to failure with manual, step‑by‑step user actions is useless against concurrent multi‑band jamming," he said.
McFarlane illustrated the gap between doctrine and reality with a boilerplate PACE example any soldier might know: secure FM radio as the primary, satellite calls as the alternate, HF radio as the contingency, and an IR strobe or runner as the emergency measure. Those measures, he warned, can be neutralized when any emission becomes an exploitable signature: "Emissions equals target. Emissions put a bullseye on wherever you are, or wherever that emission is detected."
Polymorphic C2 mesh: a new architectural idea
McFarlane offered an alternative he described as a "new paradigm" — what he and industry described as a polymorphic command‑and‑control (C2) mesh. He used the phrase "across polymorphic C2 mesh to eradicate single points of failure," explaining that this approach departs from linear redundancy toward mutually reinforcing layers.
In his words: "Polymorphic C2 mesh is hyper‑diversified, decentralized, and dynamically changing." The core functions McFarlane attributed to that mesh are autonomous fragmentation of data, encryption, and routing across multiple different physical mediums simultaneously, ensuring command posts remain connected without fixed infrastructure.
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End the scrambleTactics and technologies McFarlane named
McFarlane cited several concrete techniques and mediums the Army is exploring as part of this polymorphic approach. Those include decentralized tactical radios, use of commercial infrastructure to mask or carry network traffic, tapping into Low‑Earth Orbit constellations such as Starlink, and leveraging low‑power mobile ad‑hoc and mesh networks.
He also emphasized diversification of transit methods to avoid "any single physical or geographic chokehold," adding that the mesh would fragment and intelligently wrap data so that no single emission or node would reveal a complete picture to an adversary.
Why emissions matter: the targeting problem on the electromagnetic battlefield
McFarlane returned repeatedly to one blunt operational truth: emissions are observable and exploitable. When friendly radios, satellites, or other transmitters radiate, those signals can be "sniffed out by peer adversaries with high‑tech electronic warfare equipment of their own," he said. That capability turns traditional comms tools into potential liabilities unless the transmission profile itself is changed.
Under that logic, resilience is not simply having backups; it is denying the adversary a single signature to track. The polymorphic mesh aims to erase that bullseye by dispersing, encrypting, and concurrently routing data across multiple, shifting paths.
What this means for commanders, technologists, and procurement leaders
- Commanders and soldiers: Expect doctrine and training to shift from rehearsed sequential fallbacks to operating practices that assume concurrent degradation of multiple bands and mediums; the emphasis will be on decentralized, autonomous routing and minimizing identifiable emissions.
- Technologists and security teams: The design challenge is to build systems that can autonomously fragment, encrypt, and route data across heterogeneous physical media while minimizing signature. Integration with commercial LEO services and mobile ad‑hoc networking will be a development priority.
- Procurement leaders: Buying models that rely on single, fixed nodes or linear redundancy will be at odds with the polymorphic approach; acquisition choices will need to favor diversification, interoperability, and the ability to operate without fixed infrastructure.
McFarlane framed the shift as less incremental upgrade than doctrinal pivot: traditional PACE, he concluded, is "dead" against modern electronic warfare. The Army's answer, at least rhetorically, is to replace predictable, step‑by‑step fallbacks with hyper‑diversified, autonomously routing meshes that fragment and hide communications across commercial and tactical layers. Whether those concepts will translate into doctrine, training, and fielded systems at scale remains the operational question his remarks put on display at TechNet Augusta.
