NATO

 

Low-cost tool could give NATO troops an electronic battlefield edge

By 

John Vandiver

Stars and Stripes • April 29, 2026

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A group of four Naval Postgraduate School students developed a new tool to map enemy positions on the battlefield. The frequency-based algorithm for spatial and temporal clustering analysis with thresholds, or FASTCAT, analyzes and maps electronic signals to help commanders identify and target enemy locations. (Luke Kitterman/U.S. Air Force)

NATO recently handed four military students 34,000 scrambled battlefield signals, and within two weeks they turned the noise into a map of enemy positions.

The feat pulled off by the team of U.S. and allied officers enrolled in the Naval Postgraduate School introduces a potential new tool for commanders who need to see through the fog of electronic war.