The US Army's networked battlefield is taking shape. Spotty connections show the work ahead.

The US Army is developing new warfighting software to change the way it fights a large-scale, high-speed, high-tech war. A major exercise recently held in the California desert showed both why the service is moving so quickly and what challenges will need to be overcome to have it work as planned in combat. Out at Fort Irwin in California, the service tested its Next Generation Command and Control, or NGC2, as part of its Project Capstone Convergence exercise.

The system is complex and ambitious, marking a total overhaul of how the Army plans and fights. During the exercise, soldiers used NGC2 to locate friendly forces on a digital map, communicate via laptops, tablets, and MPU5 radios, collect data to inform battlefield moves, manage airspace, and make weapon and maneuver decisions.