Across today’s operational theaters, from crowded urban corridors to contested border zones, the battlespace is shaped as much by electronic pressures as by the terrain underfoot.

The electromagnetic spectrum – the operating space for radios, data links, and sensors – has become unstable ground: crowded, competitive, and constantly contested.

With drones, sensors, and autonomous systems flooding the field, connectivity is no longer a supporting function. It is the decisive layer that keeps command, coordination, and situational awareness intact.

Communications and connectivity links that once felt routine now strain under saturation, interference, and deliberate attack. A single stable link drives an operation forward; a broken one halts it instantly.

In this environment, the airwaves have become the new high ground. Teams that maintain resilient communication can adapt and shape the fight, while teams that lose the link are forced into a reaction.

The changing nature of aerial threats

The volume of unmanned systems continues to grow at an unprecedented scale. According to an early 2025 report from the European Council on Foreign Relations, more than 100 types of drones are now in regular use across active theaters. Production numbers are rising rapidly on all sides, creating an environment where aerial threats are continuous and layered.

This expansion has intensified the burden on the electromagnetic spectrum. With more drones in the air, more jammers on the ground, and more digital noise crowding the spectrum, communications links face pressures that legacy systems were never designed to withstand.

Traditional radio approaches, once effective, are now losing ground against modern interference techniques.

Smarter jammers change the game

Electronic warfare has evolved. Older jamming approaches relied on sheer power or broad, indiscriminate interference. Those systems were crude but effective for their time. In contrast, modern jammers have become both adaptive and reactive. They analyze, target, and disrupt signals with increasing precision.

Manufacturers across Europe confirm the trend, reporting that jammers now use software-driven behavior to track and suppress control links.

This shift has created a clear divide. Many low-cost drones continue to rely on basic commercial radios because they are inexpensive and readily available. Operators often deploy them in high volumes and accept the increased risk of link loss.

For high-value missions, however, manufacturers switch to more capable radio-frequency (RF) systems that offer improved resilience.

Where traditional frequency-hopping falls short

Frequency-hopping was once a major advancement. By moving rapidly across channels, systems could avoid static interference and simple jammers. But as jammers began to track and predict hopping patterns, this advantage eroded. Pattern-based hopping can be mapped, and once that happens, the jammer simply follows.

Modern electronic warfare (EW) is a contest of adaptation: The spectrum fight is no longer a static duel between emitters and receivers. It has become a feedback loop in which each side reacts to the other’s behavior in real time. The advantage goes to systems that can sense, adapt, and reconfigure quickly.

Given the rise of aerial warfare using drones and the critical nature of connectivity, radios and communications hardware must be able to blend strong RF performance with intelligent software control.

Modern radios must have architecture that can operate across more than one band, creating natural redundancy and fallback options. Such an environment also requires thoughtful engineering so that radios can integrate into tightly constrained platforms without adding thermal or mechanical vulnerabilities.

Most importantly, it requires resilience: Systems must survive in contested conditions using capabilities that exist today.

Shifting operational approaches and the strategic implications of communications resilience

As commanders face increasing pressure to maintain communications in contested environments, they are pushing suppliers to deliver faster synchronization, stable control, and consistent performance across a wide range of conditions. Communications resilience can no longer be added at the end of a design cycle. Radios and RF engineering need to be included in the core system architecture from the beginning.

This shift is shaping global procurement and engineering decisions. Programs expect radios to operate through interference, integrate quickly, and scale in volume. Supply-chain reliability and field-tested performance now carry the same weight as technical specifications.

Achieving resilience at scale also requires close coordination across the ecosystem. Defense leaders increasingly recognize that strong industry partnerships are essential to meeting emerging requirements and bringing innovations to the field.

The strategic implications of communications resilience reach far beyond preventing link losses. Continuity of connectivity directly influences how systems perform under pressure. When drones and robotic platforms maintain stable links through jamming, congestion, or degraded environments, they continue providing intelligence, delivering effects, and supporting mission outcomes. That continuity forces adversaries to expend more resources, spend more time, and deal with greater complexity to disrupt operational systems.

Defense stakeholders now see resilient connectivity as a force multiplier, because a platform that stays connected continues to contribute. A platform that loses communications becomes isolated and ineffective. Adaptive communications architectures, strong RF design, and reliable vendor partnerships are increasingly viewed as foundational requirements rather than optional enhancements.

Connectivity determines credibility

As drone fleets, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled platforms expand across the battlefield, communication is no longer an accessory to operations – it is the core requirement that enables these systems to function. The ability to maintain a link, even briefly under intense electronic pressure, has become a determining factor in mission success.

Ira Hughes is director of customer advocacy at Doodle Labs.

Doodle Labs · https://doodlelabs.com/