The U.S. military is aggressively pursuing new ways to share critical information safely in highly contested environments. In a significant move to modernize battlefield communications, a leading defense technology integrator has secured a vital research contract. The newly announced Intelligent Waves AFWERX Phase I SBIR award EPCE Plus initiative aims to rapidly advance secure, temporary networks for global mission partners.
What is EPCE+?
At the center of this award is the Ephemeral Partner Collaboration Environment-Plus (EPCE+). This highly advanced platform is designed to help U.S. and allied forces instantly establish secure, temporary communication networks during distributed operations. By leveraging secure, AI-orchestrated coalition collaboration, EPCE+ facilitates vital information exchange and activity coordination.
Crucially, its zero-trust architecture ensures that no sensitive data or persistent infrastructure is ever left behind on end-user devices. This ephemeral, “zero-footprint” approach massively reduces the cyber attack surface, allowing forces to coordinate without the risk of interception or network compromise.
Testing at the Tactical Edge
Intelligent Waves will not be testing this technology in a vacuum. The company plans to rigorously evaluate EPCE+ during the military’s highly anticipated Project Convergence Capstone 6 experimentation activities, specifically focusing on Operations in the Information Environment.
During this Phase I effort, engineers will actively validate mission workflows, assess technical and cybersecurity feasibility, and collect direct feedback from operators. This groundwork is essential for establishing the foundation for a potential next phase and seamless operational transition to the battlefield. The effort also directly supports Intelligent Waves’ Cognitive Interoperability Domain research under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement.
Moving at Mission Speed
As adversarial capabilities grow, traditional enterprise networks are increasingly vulnerable. Tony Crescenzo, CEO of Intelligent Waves, emphasized that trust, speed, and resilience are no longer optional in modern warfare. The ultimate goal is to deploy collaboration enclaves in a matter of minutes rather than days, preserving decision advantage even when traditional communications are degraded, contested, or highly uncertain.
Through this targeted AFWERX investment, the Air Force is ensuring that the military is actively fielding the autonomous, highly secure infrastructure required to dominate the next generation of coalition-driven operations.
