  Situational awareness (SA) through encrypted connectivity in modern warfare
is critical to battlefield coordination. Existing solutions provide
infrastructure-less connectivity and situational awareness, but at a high cost,
power consumption, and bulky form factors that limit their utility for tactical
operations. We propose the Beartooth MKII radios as a cost- and
power-effective, handy solution for establishing a situational awareness
overlay. To integrate with military information brokers, such as the Tactical
Assault Kit (TAK), we propose the Beartooth Gateway, which creates an IP
network between Beartooth radios, Gateways, and other TAK-capable devices. We
show that leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS)
components for MKII and the Gateway can enhance the availability of SA and meet
the user requirements in the field while ensuring compatibility with existing
IP networks connected to TAK infrastructure.
