印度尼西亚巴图拉贾——迭戈·冈萨雷斯中尉沿着长满象草的尘土小径行军，为现代战斗做着准备。他胸前佩戴的智能手机实时显示着他本人及整个部队的位置。士兵们携带的具备Wi-Fi功能的无线电设备相互连接，形成移动网络，将语音转化为数字信号，使他们能像使用Zoom通话一样通过耳机进行交流。此前，部队还曾派出无人机飞越该区域以勘察地形。
BATURAJA, Indonesia—Marching down a dusty trail lined with elephant grass, First Lt. Diego Gonzalez was geared up for modern battle. Strapped to his chest was a smartphone showing the real-time locations of him and his unit. The soldiers carried Wi-Fi-capable radios that linked together to form a mobile network, converting their voices into digital signals so they could communicate through headsets much like on a Zoom call. Earlier, the troops had flown a drone over the area to get a better look at the terrain.
然而，当冈萨雷斯所在部队的士兵们越过带刺铁丝网、冲向敌方战壕时，他遇到了麻烦。子弹在周围呼啸而过，他的指挥官却无法通过无线电听到他的声音。冈萨雷斯只好重启设备，在设备重新启动前，只能依靠身边的战友将信息逐级传达上去。
But as troops in Gonzalez’s unit sprinted past razor wire to breach an enemy trench, he had a problem. As bullets whizzed nearby, his commander couldn’t hear him on the radio. Gonzalez restarted his device and, until it booted up again, relied on nearby troops to relay his messages up the chain.
在印度尼西亚苏门答腊岛举行的美军实弹演习中，冈萨雷斯的指挥官约翰纳森·穆拉斯基上尉说道：“设备故障恰好发生在我们突破防线的关键时刻。如果我收不到他的消息，还以为他已经阵亡了呢。”
The outage occurred “right as we were going through the breach, which is a pretty crucial time,” said Capt. Johnathon Muraski, Gonzalez’s commander in the U.S. Army live-fire drill on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. “If I’m not hearing from him, maybe he went down or something.”