Today’s battlefields must connect the edge to the enterprise – tying together communications, data, sight pictures, and sensor information on a common network. Mesh radio technologies are often thought of as the answer, but architecturally, they do not perform the way our warfighters need. Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET) are commonly confused with Mesh, but have a fundamentally different approach to network architecture, flexibility, and mission relevance.
As the United States plans for a potential conflict with China by 2027, U.S. forces are racing to strengthen coordination across services and allied militaries. With Ukraine, as the most relevant operational proving ground, it’s clear that mobility, which only a MANET can provide, is key to the modern battlefield. One amphibious exercise, which demonstrated a MANET’s mobility, was Valiant Shield 2024. There, American troops, together with partners from Japan, France, and Canada, operated across a sprawling battlespace stretching from Hawaii to Guam and deep into the Pacific island chains. The exercise tested the reality of joint, cross-domain operations: Marine units, Air Force strike assets, Navy ships, autonomous systems, and digital fires networks all had to share data in real time. With the volume and diversity of information, only a true MANET could make this kind of integrated command and control possible. Valiant Shield relied on agile, self-healing networks to stitch together data from hundreds of disparate platforms. Unlike legacy mesh systems, which struggle with contested electromagnetic environments and high-volume traffic, MANET enabled commanders to maintain a common operational picture and synchronize fires across thousands of miles. In exercises designed to simulate the complexity of modern Indo-Pacific warfare, MANET was indispensable.
Mesh Radio Architectures: Fixed Routes, Limited Intelligence
Traditional mesh radio systems rely on a set of radios configured in a fixed routing topology. These systems form networks where each radio acts as a node, and data can hop from one to another. However, mesh radios typically operate on pre-established paths and basic routing logic. They require configuration for each node and often rely on a central controller or static path definitions for traffic routing. This architecture is adequate for low-mobility environments but struggles in dynamic, contested, or rapidly changing operational conditions. An example of this is your home network. Your router doesn’t move, but if the router goes down, all the networked devices in your house also go down. While your mobile devices on the network can move, your router remains static to provide this service.
In essence, a mesh radio is a fixed communications tool, not a network routing device. It provides basic connectivity within a constrained area but lacks the intelligence to dynamically adapt to changing topologies, interference, or the rapid maneuver of units.
Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET): Intelligent, Mission-Driven Networking
In contrast, MANET is a network capability. MANET networks leverage decentralized, self-forming, and self-healing routing protocols that do not rely on preconfigured paths or fixed infrastructure. Put simply, every radio, vehicle, drone, or soldier equipped with a node can automatically find and talk to any other node without needing a base station or a preset map of connections. When one node goes down or moves out of range, the network instantly reroutes traffic through other nodes, so communications stay intact. This means everything - every piece of equipment and every operator - can stay connected while constantly on the move. That flexibility is essential for current and future operational environments.
Key characteristics of a MANET include dynamic routing, resilience, scalability and flexibility, and ease of integration into the mission. Dynamic routing enables the system to automatically detect the best route at each moment in time and adapt to provide the best possible connectivity. This provides resilience to the network which will adapt to loss of a node or environmental disruptions to maintain the network. The MANET must also be scalable to 100’s or 1000’s of nodes without crushing the network - and must remain flexible to external factors. It also must be adaptable to mission requirements by providing different avenues to communicate such as voice, video, location data, sensor data, or other relevant data being ingested by diverse platforms across the network. Bottom line, the MANET has to prioritize the network robustness in all environments to ensure the data gets to where it needs to go.
A Valiant Battle-Proven MANET
While mesh radios offer baseline connectivity, MANET capabilities empower warfighters with true networked maneuver. A true MANET is critical as the Army advances toward its Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2) vision, the Air Force employs MANET to support distributed operations and agile combat employment (ACE), and the Navy integrates MANET for ship-to-shore and maritime expeditionary communications. Across all services, MANET enhances situational awareness, enables sensor-to-shooter timelines, and ensures resilient data flow in GPS- or SATCOM-denied environments. As NATO also seeks interoperable coalition communications, deploying MANET rather than mesh is a critical distinction. MANET is not just about connecting radios—it’s about enabling joint forces to operate, maneuver, and dominate in contested, communication-degraded environments.
Choosing MANET over mesh radio architecture means choosing a network that thinks, adapts, and survives with the mission. For the warfighter, that difference is decisive.
Persistent Systems LLC is a defense technology firm delivering mission-critical MANET solutions to U.S. and allied forces worldwide.
