Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

After a pause, Zhang Anbang continued, "Another issue is the lack of a mature military QoS priority mechanism."

Emergency fire support calls can be overwhelmed by a large number of messages, potentially consuming bandwidth.

Another significant security risk is that data packets can be intercepted. Neither the VoIP protocol, H.323 nor SIP, has military-grade encryption capabilities, which is quite dangerous.

Another issue is the difficulty in interoperating with a large number of outdated equipment. Old-fashioned radios and analog program-controlled exchanges do not have IP interfaces, so gateway protocol conversion equipment must be installed, which is quite costly.

Finally, there is a lack of standardized protocols. As far as I know, the tactical VoIP gateway commands developed by different research institutes are incompatible with each other, which can easily lead to the formation of new small IP silos.

In summary, traditional radios and programmable telephones use a separate channel for voice communication. However, once the tactical IP network is established, target messages, reconnaissance images, and command voice all run on the same link.

The advantage is that it can connect scattered equipment into a network, achieving integrated data and voice communication.

However, in a field environment, congested channels easily cause lag, and encryption and priority scheduling are not yet mature, making it unable to replace traditional radios in the short term.

Cui Shuai sighed, "Okay, you're right. I didn't think things through properly. I just thought this technology could break down the existing information silos at their root."

"You're only considering the technical aspects, ignoring confidentiality and cost issues. After all, this isn't part of my mission. Do you also think there are many problems with the all-IP plan?"

Zhang Anbang leaned back in his chair, thought for a moment, and then said, "In principle, the all-IP system can fundamentally solve the problems of information silos, incompatible formats, and inability to transmit target data between different types of equipment."

After all, the essence of IP is a unified addressing and unified encapsulation standard, applicable to all platforms, whether it is a drone ground station, artillery command vehicle, armored command vehicle, or anti-tank missile vehicle.

Regardless of their internal hardware, the output data is uniformly packaged into IP data packets, and the digital information of device A is directly transmitted to device B through the router, achieving interoperability between the machines.

This can break down the information silos between heterogeneous equipment. The root cause is the lack of a unified transmission standard, and in this respect, an all-IP network can indeed solve the information link problem.

However, it's impossible to implement it comprehensively; it can only be tested on a small scale and cannot be widely used on battalion-level artillery, drones, or anti-tank missile vehicles.

"Why?" Cui Shuai put down his water glass and asked subconsciously.

"There are many reasons," Zhang Anbang said, taking an ashtray from the drawer and lighting a cigarette.

"The first point is that the terminals of various equipment generally only have simple serial ports, and some even only have analog signals, and do not natively support Ethernet or IP protocols."

To access an IP network, each vehicle would need to be equipped with a protocol conversion gateway, have its onboard computer replaced, its power supply modified, and even its communication terminal replaced. The amount of modification work and the cost would be simply unbearable.

Even a small combined arms battalion involves considerable expenses.

Another issue is the bottleneck of wireless bandwidth, which is a fatal weakness in field environments. Current military broadband wireless communication is still very immature, and mainstream tactical radios are still narrowband.

Video is the most bandwidth-intensive component of IP networks. In mobile field operations and mountainous terrain with cover, the wireless IP link speed is very low.

Even if an IP architecture is built, it can only transmit small data packets such as text and coordinates, and it is difficult to transmit video data stably in real time.

Another issue is the clock and coordinate reference problem mentioned earlier. Even if the network is connected, it will still not work if the coordinate systems are inconsistent, as long as the IP access is insufficient.

After all, an all-IP network only solves the access problem, but it cannot solve the underlying coordinate and time synchronization problems. To truly achieve joint operations, a unified GPS and a unified geodetic coordinate system are also required.

Another issue we discussed when talking about VoIP is network security and encryption systems.

Civilian IP protocols are public, but that's not acceptable for military use. As far as I know, military IP encryption, routing security, and intrusion detection systems are still in the preliminary research stage in China.

Of course, if there's progress now, then disregard what I said, since I'm not part of your research system.

If we use it directly to build a field IP network based on my previous understanding of its security level, then the risks of electromagnetic leakage, enemy interception, and network penetration are extremely high. To put it bluntly, it might be in a half-open state.

Finally, there are issues regarding staffing and operation personnel.

Artillery and armored staff officers are accustomed to wired communication, dedicated artillery command machines, and radio voice reporting. Full IP networked operations require entirely new operating procedures, network administrators, and network maintenance teams.

Our grassroots units are most lacking in non-commissioned officers and officers trained in IP information technology. You can't expect me to poach them from the Army Academy, can you?

The sound of a lighter came from the microphone, indicating that Cui Shuai had also lit a cigarette to keep him company. "Anbang, I understand what you mean. The full IP is a prescription, but not a magic bullet."

It can open up information channels, but the shortcomings of old equipment hardware, bandwidth, and coordinate synchronization problems still remain.

Having established a channel only solves the problem of getting the message across; to make it usable immediately and accurate, a whole host of supporting challenges still need to be overcome.

The key issue is that these problems require manpower and funding, which we can't solve right now, right?

Zhang Anbang stubbed out his cigarette. "Old Hei, that's the problem. If I had someone with the funds, I would just replace the equipment directly. I wouldn't need to do this patching thing at all."

Of course, your idea is also valuable: deploying a hardened field server, or public information processing platform, in the battalion command center.

All intelligence from various sources, including drones, armored forward observation systems, and artillery reconnaissance radars, is collected here. The command platform unifies the intelligence and distributes it to the fire units as needed.

This can save some of the manual copying issues, which can save a lot of time compared to the current situation.

Therefore, although I cannot change the standardized target message format for the entire army, I can still unify information standards and build a battalion-level public information platform.

As long as the standardized target message format is established within the pilot camp, specifying which fields represent which target type, coordinates, discovery time, and credibility, all platforms will output data following the same template.

This allows for a certain degree of data exchange between reconnaissance and fire support platforms within our pilot battalion.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad," Cui Shuai's satisfied voice came through the microphone. "You've got good taste, kid. After all, I spent an afternoon thinking up this plan during my break."

If it's completely useless, wouldn't that be a disgrace to the reputation of our two geniuses, Tsinghua University's Information and Command departments?

Zhang Anbang was a little confused. "What, what are these two geniuses of information and command at Tsinghua University? I don't know this title at all."