C4 Vehicle System Launched for Resilient Command & Control in Denied Environments

Anduril Industries has introduced its command, control, communications, and computing (C4) vehicle-based system, Menace-X.

Built to operate in denied, disrupted, intermittent, and limited (DDIL) communication environments, Menace-X enables resilient command and control of complex mission sets, such as deep sensing and coordination of maritime surface fires, in a highly-mobile form factor.

Current C2 solutions require large logistical footprints, significant set-up time, and specialized training. With logistics and communications networks of forward-deployed and stand-in forces increasingly at risk of adversary targeting, warfighters need to quickly disperse, maneuver, and communicate across distributed forces to sustain operations at the edge while under multi-domain attack. This is where Menace-X comes into play.

Menace-X is easily transported by MV-22, CH-53, MH-47, C-130 and almost any other air and naval platform to provide on-demand C2 anywhere on Earth. It is designed with warfighters in mind, featuring an intuitive and ergonomic interface activated at the flip of a switch, allowing operators to easily observe and control power, communications, and compute subsystems. Operators can use government-furnished software or Anduril’s Lattice C2 suite for tasking live assets and workflows to generate effects on the battlefield, or use built-in applications for battle space analytics, collaborative planning, automated threat detection, and high-value targeting.

Tom Keane, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Anduril, said; “Menace-X provides absolute situational awareness of friendly and adversary forces by bringing national, strategic and local sensor data and tracks down to the tactical level, allowing for the real-time tasking of assets and prosecution of targets.

“Fully operational within minutes of aircraft roll-off, Menace-X allows teams at the tactical edge to C2 forces, fires, and effects at the speed and scale necessary to achieve overmatch of the pacing threat.”

Menace-X features resilient, software-defined communications infrastructure that can be orchestrated on a user-defined basis, allowing operators to use the electromagnetic spectrum as a maneuver space. And with integrated mesh networking and Anduril’s AutoPACE™ software, Menace-X monitors the performance of network pathways and intelligently selects the optimal link with the ability to adjust based on mission requirements.

Onboard communications include bi-directional data exchange across six pathways (PLEO, GEO, Cellular, UHF/VHF, HF/WBHF, Hardline, Link-16) and unidirectional receipt of three further data feeds (IBS, ADS-B, AIS). The open architecture of Menace-X enables operators to access joint sensor-to-shooter networks, ingress and hold custody of thousands of weapons-quality tracks, and if necessary, egress those tracks to weapons control systems for targeting and prosecution.

Menace-X has been successfully demonstrated at several U.S. military exercises, including the Marine Corps’ Weapons & Tactics Instructor course and the U.S. Army’s Project Convergence Capstone event, and is deploying globally across 2024.