Structural weaknesses persist in the secure communication systems of various actors involved in national defense. Isolated systems, a lack of interfaces, and unclear responsibilities hinder the rapid exchange of security-relevant information in an emergency. The consequences can be significant: delays, gaps in expertise, and limited operational capability across organizational boundaries. Furthermore, the perceived limitations of authorities could further unsettle the civilian population.
What motivates decision-makers now
The results of our latest Voice of Our Clients study paint a clear picture: For leaders in the defense and security sector, three priorities are central – Cyber resilience, IT modernization and interorganizational cooperation.
Of particular relevance is the question of how existing island systems can be linked to form a functional and secure overall system. Given global crises, hybrid threat scenarios, and growing interdependencies between state and civilian actors, one thing becomes clear: Leadership skills are a task for society as a whole.
The bottleneck: a common communication platform
Germany has powerful platforms like HaFIS/GMN and is working on sovereign cloud infrastructures. Nevertheless, one crucial issue remains unresolved: the secure and binding exchange of sensitive data between organizations with different responsibilities, security levels, and technical capabilities.
The problem isn't a lack of technology. It's a lack of... common, sustainable communication basis, which includes both military and civilian actors – and in particular in a mobile, flexible manner and in security-critical scenarios, across multiple security domains.
Mobile leadership skills: What we can learn from Hermes
One example of how mobile and secure communication can work in a multinational context is the NATO project. Hermes. Here, as a first step, a solution was created for the leaders of all NATO commands that enables highly secure communication on a specially protected laptop – independent of location and time and at a level of security that meets the requirements of international military command structures.
Hermes demonstrates that previously location-based communication processes can be successfully integrated into a modern, mobile leadership environment can be transferred. At the same time, the project demonstrates how closely technology, organization, and operations must work together to ensure reliability even in a crisis.
Secure communication requires more than technology.
For overall defense, it will be crucial how quickly and consistently organizations are integrated into shared structures in the future. This includes coordinating interfaces between government agencies, industry, and critical infrastructure (KRITIS) stakeholders early on, as well as defining roles, responsibilities, and the involvement of specialists needed in defense or crisis situations.
Security technologies such as SINA Managed Service They make an important contribution here because they enable secure access to differently classified information – even on mobile devices and across organizational boundaries. However, technological solutions only realize their full value when embedded in robust processes, clear governance, and sustainable operational structures.
Space travel as a strategic enabler
Satellite-based communication, navigation, and timing services (SATCOM/GNSS/PNT), as well as Earth observation and reconnaissance, enable reach, resilience, and a robust situational awareness picture even when terrestrial networks are degraded, overloaded, or deliberately attacked. In a realistic crisis scenario, communication from the strategic decision-making center to mobile units must be consistently reliable, prioritizable, explainable, and rapidly scalable. In federated and multinational operational scenarios, it is crucial that cooperation across national and organizational boundaries is possible without creating central dependencies or compromising sovereignty.
This requires the interplay of satellite-based connectivity, robust identity and key management, and multi-tenant, cross-domain collaboration. CGI's pooling and sharing solution serves as an example of how resources, security services, and operating models can be bundled, enabling multiple stakeholders to communicate interoperably on a shared, secure platform without compromising sovereignty, segregation, or compliance.
At the same time, the solution reduces the high technical complexity of interoperable, cross-domain communication architectures to a level that is manageable for users and practical in everyday operations. This creates a significant lever for speed and cost-effectiveness across the entire defense landscape.
At the same time, it is necessary to pragmatically consider transitional technologies: Until QKD-based solutions (Quantum Key Distribution) are ready for market in mission-ready, widely available and interoperable versions, quantum-resilient cryptographic methods (PQC), hybrid key agreements, the hardening of end devices and resilient multi-bearer architectures (SatCom plus terrestrial) must close the security and availability gap.
This ensures that defense capabilities do not wait for a future technological promise, but are already effective today in scalable, operationally relevant communication networks.
Conclusion: Leadership begins with commitment
Comprehensive defense will only work if actors can operate within a shared information space. This requires a communication architecture that... safe, mobile, interoperable and practical is – and meets the real requirements of the German Armed Forces, authorities, aid organizations, critical infrastructure and industry.
The technologies for this already exist. Now it is a matter of consistently integrating them and creating framework conditions that, in an emergency, enable what is often still lacking today: clear, robust and secure leadership capabilities across all levels.