Tactical Communications Control

Tactical communications differ from commercial systems in that they must continuously be planned and built, and then constantly changed and maintained to keep up with the tactical movement of troops. Therefore, the scope of tactical network control is much broader and the actions taken are much more dynamic. The current development of network control, as agreed to by the military services, is outlined. Two different tactical network philosophies are then discussed. One stresses the technical control of the transmission network which provide circuits to switches, communication centers, data systems and individual terminals; the other addresses the use of circuit switches to control and distribute communication circuits on demand. Tactical network control is discussed in the context of both philosophies, differences are analyzed and answers are proposed which combine the best features of both into one tactical system.