Military Communications [Guest Editorial]

New and diverse types of threats and military conflicts mean that the requirements for military communications continue to evolve. These requirements, along with reduced military spending, impose considerable challenges on researchers and developers of military communications systems. These challenges are exacerbated by technical and environmental limitations, which include harsh RF propagation environments, severe spectrum limitations, topological variability, mobility, and stringent security requirements. Adding to these fundamental challenges is the fact that military networks need to support a wide variety of applications with needs ranging from time-sensitive delivery to reliable large volume data dissemination. Information will emanate from a large range of sources, including remote sensors and unmanned vehicles, both aerial and terrestrial.