The U.S. Army recently conducted Dragon Nexus 26-01 at Fort Bragg, a bench test series initiated by the Common Platform Environment Command and Control (CPE C2) Trail Boss to evaluate emerging software solutions for node-scaling limitations in distributed networking (Durrani, 2026). During this event, the Army documented that standard TCP/IP message delivery collapses to zero when pushed past 20 nodes in a contested field environment (Durrani, 2026). This limitation currently forces reliance on backhaul solutions such as SATCOM and cellular towers, which are costly and susceptible to jamming (TerraKinesis, n.d.).
To address this challenge, TerraKinesis, a Detroit-based defense technology company, demonstrated its PULSE protocol (Durrani, 2026; TerraKinesis, n.d.). PULSE is a firmware-based, distributed compute protocol that operates without cloud, cellular, or satellite dependencies (Durrani, 2026). Utilizing TrellisWare TSM radios on the same waveform and channel with no new hardware, the implementation of PULSE reduced network-management overhead from 30% to 12%, a 60% reduction (Durrani, 2026). TerraKinesis projects that deeper TrellisWare integration could drive this reduction close to 95% (Durrani, 2026).
PULSE operates below the application layer at Layer 3/4 and functions as a surrogate, enabling native Team Awareness Kit (TAK) data to cross the mesh network without a TAK server or an Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) plug-in (Durrani, 2026). The protocol utilizes a Negative Acknowledgment (NACK) system — which signals only when a message is missing rather than confirming every receipt — and a patent-pending Beehive Grouping architecture that clusters nodes to scale linearly (O(n)) rather than exponentially (O(n²)) (Durrani, 2026; TerraKinesis, n.d.). This architecture allows every node to act as a peer and relay messages across a UDP/multicast mesh designed to scale to 1,000 nodes (Durrani, 2026; TerraKinesis, n.d.).
The Dragon Nexus 26-01 event established PULSE in the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5–6 range, indicating validation in a relevant environment on live tactical hardware (Durrani, 2026). The XVIII Airborne Corps — the Army’s contingency response force, required to deploy globally within 18 hours (U.S. Army, n.d.) — has invited TerraKinesis to participate in Dragon Nexus 26-02 in the fall of 2026, with an expanded scope, an increased number of nodes, and soldier touch points (Durrani, 2026). The Army’s broader Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative, supported by a $99.6 million OTA award to Team Anduril, aims to replace siloed warfighting systems with an integrated, scalable data layer across hardware, software, and applications (PEO C3N public affairs, 2025).
References
Durrani, M. (2026, June 23). TerraKinesis case study Dragon Nexus 26-01 — XVIII Airborne Corps. Substack. TerraKinesis Case Study Dragon Nexus 26-01 — XVIII Airborne Corps
PEO C3N public affairs. (2025, July 18). Army announces Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) prototype award. U.S. Army. Army announces Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) prototype award | Article | The United States Army
TerraKinesis. (n.d.). PULSE. Retrieved June 24, 2026, from https://terrakinesis.com/
U.S. Army. (n.d.). XVIII Airborne Corps. Fort Bragg. Retrieved June 24, 2026, from https://home.army.mil/bragg/units-tenants/xviii-airborne-co
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