Decision Advantage for a Distributed Fight: Expeditionary RF Sensing in INDOPACOM

The Indo-Pacific (INDOPAC) region stands as the crucible of 21st-century global security. Its vast maritime expanses, intricate archipelagos, and rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape demand a military posture defined by agility, distribution, and connection. In this complex environment, the ability to project power, maintain persistent presence, and establish secure, resilient operating areas is paramount. Traditional, large-scale defense infrastructure, while foundational, often struggles to meet the dynamic requirements of modern INDOPACOM operations, which are increasingly shaped by concepts like Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), Agile Combat Employment (ACE), Stand-in Forces (SIF), Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), and Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO).

This is precisely where Hidden Level's advanced RF sensing capabilities provide a critical advantage. By delivering Decision Advantage through advanced RF sensing, Hidden Level enables faster, more confident decisions derived from trusted RF intelligence, directly supporting the strategic imperatives of joint forces in this vital theater of operations.

Adapting to the Fight: MDO, ACE, SIF, EABO, and DMO in INDOPACOM

US Joint Forces have evolved their operational doctrine to meet the unique challenges of the region, recognizing that the contemporary fight demands a modern approach.

Today, the core operating concepts in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility are:

• Multi-Domain Operations (MDO): A concept that aims to overcome adversary anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities by presenting multiple dilemmas across all domains—land, sea, air, space, and cyber. MDO integrates capabilities from across the joint force to converge effects, creating temporary windows of advantage. The Army’s Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTFs) are key to this, deploying long-range precision effects and integrated fires. Hidden Level’s advanced RF sensing contributes to MDO by providing critical, real-time aerial domain awareness that can be fused with data from other domains, enhancing the MDTF’s ability to identify, track, and target threats, and enabling more effective cross-domain synchronization.
• Agile Combat Employment (ACE): Designed to complicate adversary targeting and increase survivability by rapidly dispersing and relocating air assets and support functions across a network of austere, temporary, or semi-permanent locations, ACE emphasizes proactive movement, resilient communications, and minimal logistical footprints to generate combat power from unexpected places. Hidden Level’s expeditionary-mobile RF sensing systems are ideally suited for ACE, allowing for the rapid establishment of air domain awareness around these dispersed operating locations, ensuring immediate threat detection and protection for high-value air assets and personnel, and enabling the continuous generation of airpower.
• Stand-in Forces (SIF): Small, highly mobile, and resilient forces designed to operate within a contested area, providing persistent sensing, targeting, and strike capabilities. Hidden Level’s systems are ideally suited to enable SIF by providing a forward sensing presence that can operate within civilian infrastructure or expeditionary environments, complicating adversary targeting and enhancing survivability.
• Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO): A concept for rapidly establishing, operating, and displacing temporary, austere bases across a theater. These bases extend the reach of naval and joint forces, providing forward arming and refueling points, and critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) nodes. Hidden Level’s deployable RF sensing capabilities are crucial for quickly establishing and maintaining security perimeters around these EABs, providing immediate situational awareness against aerial threats.
• Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO): Aims to complicate adversary targeting and enhance fleet resilience by distributing naval forces across a wider area, increasing their lethality and survivability. Effective DMO relies heavily on a shared, accurate operational picture, which Hidden Level’s advanced RF sensing can contribute to by providing precise, real-time data on aerial activity across distributed nodes.

These concepts collectively emphasize a forward and rotational presence, distributed operations to complicate targeting, resilient logistics nodes for sustainment under attack, and forward positioning of sustainment. Hidden Level’s technology directly supports these tenets, offering a critical capability that aligns perfectly with the US Joint Forces’s strategic vision for INDOPAC.

The Expeditionary Advantage: Hidden Level’s Role in Force Projection

In INDOPACOM, the term “expeditionary” is not merely a descriptor; it is a fundamental requirement. Every aspect of operations, from logistics to sensing, must be capable of rapid deployment and sustained performance in austere, contested environments. While larger, more established systems have their place in fixed infrastructure, they often lack the agility needed for the dynamic shifts between competition, crisis, and conflict that define the Indo-Pacific. This is where Hidden Level’s expeditionary design truly shines.

Our system is built around the principles of providing expeditionary mobility and being rapidly deployable via multi-mission platforms —designed to be an integral part of the deployed force, not a logistical burden. This is not just a theoretical capability; it is a proven one. Hidden Level is a sensor provider for the US Army FoCUS program, a testament to our system’s ability to meet stringent transportability requirements. The FoCUS program specifically mandated that a static install 3-sensor kit must fit and be transportable within a Blackhawk helicopter. This rigorous standard ensures that our technology is ready for the most demanding operational environments.

Beyond the Blackhawk, the Hidden Level system can be kitted and transported in the back of other multi-mission helicopters such as the MV-22 Osprey, CH-53E/K, or UH-1. This versatility means our RF sensing capabilities can be deployed anywhere these critical platforms can land, enabling rapid establishment of security environments in diverse scenarios:

• Rapid Base Establishment: Quickly secure newly established EABs or temporary airfields, providing immediate aerial threat detection and situational awareness for personnel and assets.
• Distributed Sensing Grids: Contribute to resilient, distributed sensing networks across island chains or littoral areas, enhancing the overall operational picture for DMO.
• Forward Operating Locations: Provide critical RF intelligence for Stand-in Forces operating in contested areas, complicating adversary targeting and enhancing their survivability.

This proven transportability and rapid setup time mean that forces are never without the protection and situational awareness they need to operate effectively and safely, even in the most remote or contested locations.

From Deployment to Decision Advantage: Enabling Strategic Posture

INDOPACOM’s strategic posture—defined by the interplay of forces, footprint, and agreements—requires capabilities that can rapidly transition across the spectrum of competition, crisis, and conflict without necessitating a complete “reset.” Hidden Level’s advanced RF sensing is a key enabler of this rapid transition capability. Our ability to deploy quickly and provide immediate, high-fidelity RF intelligence means:

• Staying Ahead of Threats: By establishing a forward sensing presence, Hidden Level denies adversaries the element of surprise, providing early warning and persistent tracking of aerial threats. This immediate situational awareness is critical for maintaining a competitive edge.
• Force Projection Multiplier: Our system acts as a force multiplier, allowing smaller, more agile teams to secure larger areas. This frees up personnel and resources for other critical tasks, maximizing the effectiveness of distributed forces across the vast Indo-Pacific theater.
• Seamless Integration for a Common Operating Picture: Hidden Level’s data is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing Command and Control (C2) systems. This ensures that our RF intelligence is not an isolated data stream but a vital, integrated component of the broader operational picture, providing commanders with a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the battlespace. This connectivity is essential for coordinated action across distributed forces and resilient logistics nodes.

Agile Sensing for an Agile Future in INDOPACOM

The security challenges of INDOPAC demand a new paradigm of agility, adaptability, and rapid response. The strategic concepts of MDO, ACE, SIF, EABO, and DMO are not just theoretical frameworks; they are the operational reality. Traditional, fixed-site systems, while still important, are no longer sufficient on their own to meet the demands of a distributed, expeditionary fight.

Hidden Level’s advanced RF sensing, with its proven expeditionary design and multi-mission helicopter transportability, is uniquely positioned to empower these critical operating concepts. By providing Decision Advantage through advanced RF sensing, we enable forces to operate with speed, confidence, and a decisive edge, facilitating rapid transitions between competition, crisis, and conflict without compromising strategic posture. Hidden Level is not just providing sensors; we are providing the connective tissue for a more agile, resilient, and effective defense in INDOPAC.

To learn more about how Hidden Level is supporting the mission in INDOPACOM and enabling the future of distributed operationn, contact us.