Defense and Federal Government Innovation & Challenge Success
Location
USA & Global
Industry
Defense
Deployment Date
2024
Site size
Various
The Challenge
Communications in Degraded and Disconnected Environments
The U.S. Defense and Federal Government faces persistent challenges maintaining communications during natural disasters, domestic emergencies, and contested or remote operational environments where commercial infrastructure is unavailable, congested, or compromised.
Fragile Legacy Infrastructure: Traditional cellular and satellite systems are vulnerable to outages, congestion, and physical disruption during catastrophic events.
Lack of Rapid Deployability: Many existing solutions are difficult to transport, slow to deploy, or require specialized infrastructure and spectrum access.
Operational Risk: In disaster response and defense scenarios, loss of communications directly impacts command, coordination, and mission effectiveness.
To address these gaps, U.S. Defense and Federal Government innovation programs sought technologies capable of delivering rapidly deployable, high-performance, standalone communications under real operational constraints.
The Solution
KEEN and the Khasm Tactical Edge Network (KTEN)
Khasm Labs responded by extending the KEEN platform into a tactical form factor, creating the Khasm Tactical Edge Network (KTEN) — a portable private 5G and edge computing solution designed specifically for off-grid and degraded environments.
Private 5G at the Edge: KTEN delivers secure, standalone private 5G connectivity without reliance on commercial carrier infrastructure.
Rapid Deployment: The system is designed to be transported and activated quickly, enabling communications in hours rather than days.
Edge Compute Ready: Integrated edge capabilities allow applications, analytics, and services to run locally, even when backhaul connectivity is unavailable.
Designed for Real Operations: KTEN was built and tested with real operational users, not as a lab-only concept.
KEEN/KTEN was evaluated through live demonstrations and competitive challenges sponsored by the U.S. Defense and Federal Government's various innovation programs.
Proven Results
#1 Finishes and Operational Validation
KEEN and KTEN delivered measurable results across multiple U.S. Defense and Federal Government-sponsored programs, earning top recognition and validating their real-world applicability.
First Place — NSIN Catastrophic Communications Challenge: Khasm Labs placed #1 in the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) Catastrophic Communications Challenge, outperforming other solutions in delivering resilient communications in disrupted environments. The challenge was conducted in partnership with the Washington Air National Guard’s 194th Communications Squadron and focused on technologies supporting domestic response and defense operations. (Public announcement: https://nsin.mil/news/2024-07-05-c2c-winner/)
FedTech Crucible Accelerator — Defense Innovation Validation: Through participation in the FedTech Crucible Accelerator, Khasm Labs further validated KTEN’s role as a mission-ready off-grid communications platform, demonstrating how private 5G and edge technologies can support defense and national security missions in austere environments. (Public overview: https://www.fedtech.io/resource/inside-the-crucible-born-partnership-advancing-off-grid-tech)
Operational Credibility: Across both programs, KEEN demonstrated that private 5G is not just an enterprise technology, but a viable operational communications platform for defense, emergency response, and critical infrastructure scenarios
Summary Impact
Want to see what KEEN can do for your enterprise?
Contact us at info@khasmnetworks.com
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