Mass casualty events have become frighteningly common in the past decade or two. Setting up an incident command post quickly ensures clear communication and immediate task assignments. It can make the difference in preventing injuries or deaths.

Mobile command centers (MCCs) are changing things. Do you still need traditional police command posts like emergency operations centers (EOCs) or police headquarters (HQs)? Knowing the best use for each command post helps you equip your teams with the technology and setting they need for any public safety, natural disaster, weather, or other threat.

The Basics of MCCs and Traditional Police Command Posts

An MCC and a fixed EOC or HQ serve the same purpose. They provide a tactical hub for communications and decision-making during a weather event, natural disaster, large event, or critical incident. 

In either setup, incident commanders direct field teams, analyze information, and ensure the event is managed from beginning to end. The main difference is that an MCC travels to the front lines. Fixed police command posts are in a building that can be miles away from the scene.

Comparing MCCs and Fixed EOCs/HQs

When a public safety agency compares the pros and cons of MCCs vs. traditional police command posts, it looks at five core areas.

Interoperability

• MCC: On-the-scene workstations with key technology like Cradlepoint 4G/5G gateway routers, signal boosters, and integrated communication systems allow police to communicate clearly and quickly with other agencies.
• Fixed EOC/HQ: Dedicated workstations for multiple agencies and fiber optics make for seamless communications with local, state, and federal agencies. Without secondary relays, bridging communications between field units can be harder.

Logistical Footprint

• MCC: Usually has a smaller footprint. A single Sprinter or Transit van may only have two workspaces, while a larger trailer could fit several more. Draxxon’s customized options ensure you have the space you need for the situations you handle.
• Fixed EOC/HQ: Often an oversized room with lots of space for multiple desks and work areas, making it possible for dozens of people to work together. Breakrooms and supplies for extended operations are always there.

Situational Awareness

• MCC: Go straight to the front lines for zero delays and a clear line of sight. Drone feeds let pilots direct you to the areas you need to see most, and PTZ optical and thermal cameras provide clear video in smoke or fog. 
• Fixed EOC/HQ: Live feed depends on the proximity of security cameras and regional traffic cams. On-the-scene footage from field teams may take longer to reach you, affecting the timing of critical decisions.

Technology

• MCC: Modern MCCs are packed with technology. Pneumatic masts, satellite terminals, climate-controlled server racks, local mesh Wi-Fi, video walls, and power banks for drones are included. Outdoor video monitors also make it easy to update field teams.
• Fixed EOC/HQ: Similarly, traditional command posts have that technology. The biggest drawback is that field teams must take drone footage and send it to headquarters to view. It can create unwanted delays.

Time to Deploy/Respond

• MCC: Deployment time depends on how fast the driver reaches the scene. Emergency lights and sirens help with response times. Set up is often less than 15 minutes.
• Fixed EOC/HQ: It’s often already set up and ready to use. If you have to set up in a school gym or local auditorium, unpacking and setting up equipment takes a lot of time. Plus, personnel may need time to reach the command post, and equipment may need time to boot up.

How Do You Decide Between MCCs and Traditional Police Command Posts?

Your district needs its first or an improved command post, but you’re not sure which is best for your needs. Do you get a mobile unit or stick to the traditional post that you’re familiar with?

Budget Constraints

Start by reviewing your budget. A new command post requires an investment no matter what you choose. With an MCC, you choose between a van or truck and trailer. In the future, however, a trailer eliminates the need to purchase an entirely new mobile command vehicle.

A stationary command post often fits into an unused room in your headquarters or precinct, but you still need to consider the cost of the required technology. With field units operating miles away from headquarters, you cannot allow technology to fail you.

Infrastructure

During a natural disaster or severe weather event, cell towers may topple, power lines may go down, and fiber optics may be damaged. Until crews can make repairs, you can’t use power, internet, or cellular networks. 

Both fixed command posts and MCCs need these services and rely on satellite connections and generators. MCCs can bring power directly to the scene. 

Incident Type

What types of incidents do you experience? If you’re in the mountains, an MCC is essential for situations like lost hikers and wildfires. MCCs are also helpful in areas where hazardous material spills or barricaded suspect operations are a risk. You might also find a mobile post ideal for tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards.

When you consider the technology and mobility of an MCC, it’s best for:

• Active shooters/Barricaded subjects
• Hostage negotiations
• Natural disasters
• Public events like marathons, parades, or political rallies
• Severe weather

Traditional police command posts are better for future events you can plan for, or for local events close to the command post. For example, a college graduation where the guest speaker is a major celebrity and security details are heightened.

Scope

In a city like Seattle, you have a wide territory with communities onshore and on islands. Multiple departments come together to support each other with large-scale events. Mobile command posts make this much easier to manage.

In a smaller, rural location with a smaller population, you might not need to cover as much territory, or you might cover entire counties. A traditional command post is within a couple of miles of the area your officers serve, but MCCs are best if you have hundreds of square miles.

MCCs Bring Technology and Power to the Field

Draxxon’s MCVs and towable trailers bring the technology and power you need right to the front lines. This makes them an ideal option for any police department looking for a command center that goes where the team goes. 

Schedule a demo and discuss your goals with our experts. Customizing MCCs to empower your force is our passion.

The post Mobile Command Centers vs. Traditional Police Command Posts appeared first on DRAXXON.

When your role is to provide a centralized, coordinated response or handle surveillance for a company or large event, you don’t have a moment to lose to poor planning. Our list helps you design a command center that keeps execution and operations running smoothly from the first seconds through post-event evaluation.

Design Your Security Command Center’s Mission and Scope

Before buying furniture or equipment, you need a clear idea of what the job may entail and what your ultimate goals are.

What Are Your Key Objectives?

Start by breaking down what your security command center will do. This needs to be highly customized as no two agencies are identical. Think about:

• Asset and Physical Protection: Whether it’s people at an event or the technology in a government facility, know exactly what your team is protecting and how they’ll do the job.
• Cyber Protection: If there’s a risk of cyberattacks, how do you keep the IT infrastructure safe?
• Logistics: How do you monitor real-time tracking of your teams or assets? If you’re handling security for a warehouse, how do you do the job with as little disruption as possible?
• Travel: If you have personnel in another location or need to protect people while they’re traveling to another location, how are you coordinating the travel?

Stakeholders and Service Level Agreements

Several departments may have a vested interest in the security work you’re doing. You need to be aware of who might reach out and create a formal Service Level Agreement (SLA) with that department. It sets the groundwork for response times and communication. Have a plan in place for:

• Acknowledgment Times: How quickly are responses expected?
• Escalation Windows: How quickly should incidents get escalated to emergency personnel or leaders?
• Reporting: During the mission, how often should daily summaries or incident reports go to the executives or stakeholders?

Regulatory and Legal Requirements

Security details often must meet regulatory and legal requirements. Local, state, and federal privacy laws impact employee monitoring and how long you can retain video footage. For example, in Idaho, employers can’t record video of employees if the audio is turned on. 

Additionally, you may need to follow CIP, HIPAA, or NERC standards. Make sure your private security teams follow all applicable rules and regulations.

Build an Organized, Comfortable Command Center Environment

Professionals working in a command center need a suitable work environment. If they’re uncomfortable or constantly moving around others in a disorganized space, it’s hard to stay on track. You need to consider:

• Acoustics and Lighting: During a high-stress situation, noise is a distraction. Sound-dampening wall panels, dimmable lighting, and high-quality speakers make a difference.
• Ergonomics: Chairs and desks should be ergonomic to keep command center personnel comfortable. You don’t want them fidgeting because their backs ache or their wrists hurt.
• Traffic Flow: Make sure that foot traffic moves freely without bumping into an operator’s chair or equipment. 
• Video Displays or Walls: LCD or LED wall panels provide clear images, and setting them at easy-to-see distances helps avoid eye strain. All operators need to see the panels from their station. Outdoor video displays need to be visible in the sun.

Consider the Technology in the Command Center

Once the indoor layout is set and there’s plenty of room for people to move without creating disturbances, it’s time for the technology.

• Core Hardware and Systems Integration: Computers are a small part of the core hardware. Unmanned aircraft, like drones, are incredibly useful in security missions. Draxxon mobile command vans and trailers include launch stations and drone charging stations, fast setup times, live-stream and broadcasting capabilities, and onboard imagery and data recording.
• Communications and Collaboration: Integrated communication systems ensure teams communicate seamlessly with other emergency personnel, such as fire or police.
• Redundancy, Continuity, and Cyber-Resilience: If a weather event knocks out cell towers or a cyberattack takes out the power grid, you still need to communicate with your team. Backup generators keep your command center going.
• Threat Intelligence and AI: Use advanced technology to monitor for perimeter breaches and detect drones. Weather alerts and radar images keep you updated on any potential weather event.

Plan Your Security Operations Stages and Hold Training Sessions

You have the equipment in mind, and the layout is set. It’s time to familiarize your team with everything they need to know.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Build a clear handbook or guide to the steps that are taken during a security detail. When should your team trigger a response? How can operators confirm the validity of an alert? When there is an issue, what does the initial response look like?

Fatigue Management, Shift Rotations, and Handover Protocols

Sometimes, security details last days or even weeks. If that’s the case, how do you manage fatigue within your team? Are you doing rotating shifts? When one team is finishing their day and another takes over, what are the requirements for handing over the command center to the next team?

Training, Simulations, and Drills

Finally, make sure everyone is fully trained in their roles and consider having everyone double up and learn another role, too. If an operator is sick, have another team member trained and ready to take over. 

Hold unplanned drills to maintain a sense of urgency. Once training is complete, keep running unplanned drills. This not only refreshes established crew, but also helps hone the skills of newer trainees who are still getting comfortable in their role.

Ensure You’ve Future-Proofed Your Command Center Design

The best security command center is future-proof. As technology advances and event dynamics shift because of people’s attitudes or willingness to ignore societal rules, technology must be upgraded quickly to keep pace.

• Cloud and Hybrid Infrastructures: Processing zero-latency local video surveillance footage and storing low-priority footage in the cloud is important.
• Emerging Tech: Autonomous drones can perform outdoor or indoor perimeter checks. They need docking stations. API data feeds quickly analyze and alert you to changes in air quality, weather, and infrared images.
• Scalability and Modular Expansions: Modular furniture and server rack space make upgrades easier over time. Instead of buying brand-new mobile control vehicles, you replace a few equipment pieces and scale with ease.

Even with a guide to help you get started, we understand how important your decisions are. Work with the experts at Draxxon and build a personalized security command center that does exactly what you need, no matter the intensity of the mission.

The post How to Design a Private Security Command Center for Real-Time Situational Awareness appeared first on DRAXXON.

Physical damage to fiber-optic cables, local power failures, and structural destruction of relay towers often cause immediate regional blackouts. Even if a tower survives the environmental damage or hack, any remaining service will be flooded with citizens trying to call loved ones. 

This leaves local, state, and federal agencies at a serious disadvantage. Important communications between emergency managers and ground crews are cut off. Mobile command centers are essential in these situations. 

Mobile command centers restore emergency communications and ensure leaders can make decisions when major networks are offline. These specialized units serve as self-contained operational hubs, maintaining constant communication between teams on the ground and regional dispatchers.

Critical Incidents Rely on High-Speed Data

Emergency management, public safety, and security operations rely on high-speed data, geospatial mapping, and reliable radio connections. Today’s disaster management operations require constant data from thermal drone feeds, casualty databases, and mapping grids for search-and-rescue teams. 

However, the infrastructure in many areas is limited in its design. It’s designed for daily use. It’s not storm- or hacker-proof. Cellular networks often fail in major incidents for three reasons.

Congested Networks

Spikes in user traffic can render an intact tower useless to first responders as they fight to get through thousands of other users. Commercial LTE and 5G bandwidths quickly become saturated beyond operational capacity as thousands of affected residents attempt to access mobile data at the same moment.

Equipment Destruction

Storms and earthquakes destroy buried cables, cell towers, and microwave links. Earthquakes snap underground fiber links, while severe windstorms and wildfires dismantle physical towers. This completely severs networks.

Offline Power Grids

Cellular sites might have standby batteries, but they’re usually limited to about 8 hours. Long electrical outages make towers useless until power is restored. Once backup battery reserves deplete during prolonged blackouts, surviving cell sites shut down, too.

When a cellular network is knocked out, you lose the structure that’s necessary for command operations. Ground teams cannot communicate with operational leaders. Agency heads lose situational awareness. Multi-agency coordination stumbles. 

To regain control, you need an independent communication and operations hub at the scene. Tactical units must have an off-grid processing center that operates entirely independent of local utilities and commercial service providers.

A Mobile Command Center Becomes Your Autonomous Center

Mobile command centers offer more than radios within a vehicle. It’s a self-sustaining mobile command, control, and intelligence hub. 

Failed infrastructure isn’t limiting when you have an MCC with its own computing infrastructure, network backhaul, and power source that you bring right to the ground crew. These platforms function as mobile dispatch centers, tactical briefing rooms, and centralized data processing units deployed directly to the hot zone.

Cross-Agency Radio Interoperability

Police, fire, EMTs, and National Guard teams often operate on different radio frequencies. An MCC integrates radio interoperability gateways that patch different radio frequencies together so teams can talk to each other. 

By converting disparate VHF, UHF, P25, and digital radio signals, commanders eliminate dangerous communication gaps between responding units.

Localized Communication

When public cellular networks fail, area residents all flood any remaining towers to get messages through. This can lock out emergency personnel. 

An MCC becomes a localized cellular and Wi-Fi hotspot for all responders. They don’t have to fight to get through crowded transmissions. The MMC’s system also provides secure communications, which keeps confidential information like photos of the damage or personnel names and locations from the general public and media. 

High-grade encryption protocols ensure that mission-critical data remains protected from unauthorized interception and causes additional public panic.

Network Backhauls

Mobile command vehicles provide multi-WAN routine and satellite communications that provide high-bandwidth, low-latency internet connections. Field commanders can still access cloud-based GIS, stream live video to state and federal management agencies, and access critical databases. 

Using redundant satellite links like Starlink or GEO systems, combined with bonded cellular routers, ensure uninterrupted cloud access even in remote or devastated locations.

Tips for Agencies Planning for Network Blackouts

If there’s a severe network outage, incorporate DRAXXON’s best tips for handling these blackouts. Strategic preparation must include evaluating hardware, refining operational protocols, and holding regular tactical drills.

Hold Regular Deployment Drills

Before an incident, run deployment drills in a zero-cellular environment to minimize setup time during a real emergency. Simulating complete blackouts reveals operational bottlenecks, hardware gaps, and setup delays before a real catastrophe strikes. It also familiarizes your team with the technology.

Keep Powered for Days

Use vehicles with dual power sources, such as auxiliary generators with battery/inverter banks, to ensure you have power during a multi-day grid failure. Robust power redundancy keeps onboard workstations, radios, climate control, and exterior lighting running for days on end.

Make Sure Everyone Is Heard With Interagency Standardization

Ensure all agencies are heard through universal radio bridging interfaces and open-architecture software. Establishing unified protocols beforehand guarantees seamless data sharing between municipal, state, and federal teams.

Stay Connected With Multi-Path Backhauls

End connectivity failures by combining satellite broadband, high-gain cellular boosters, and point-to-point microwave links. Intelligent multi-WAN routers automatically switch between available signals, always prioritizing stable, high-speed routes without any manual intervention required from your ground crew.

Use Integrated Aerial Assets to Assess Damage and Danger Zones

Assess all damaged infrastructure as quickly as possible using dedicated UAS launch and landing stations and live-streaming directly to monitors in the mobile command center. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) offer immediate situational awareness, pinpointing structural damage and hazards without risking responder safety.

Maintaining Operational Command When Infrastructure Fails

Whether a major ice storm topples trees, poles, and cell towers or a hurricane makes landfall and knocks out everything, a coordinated response can’t wait. Your organization cannot rely on fixed infrastructure. 

Traditional brick-and-mortar command facilities are vulnerable to widespread regional power outages and network blackouts, making mobile autonomy a necessity rather than a nice feature.

Draxxon specializes in customized mobile command vehicles and towable trailers that provide an autonomous platform with satellite backhaul, cross-frequency radio capabilities, and drone operations. We make sure that when a local network goes out, you maintain situational awareness and complete control. 

We build every vehicle and trailer from the ground up to meet the demanding requirements of mission-critical emergency operations. Talk to us about our MCVs, trailers, and portable briefcase options. We work with you to ensure the platform you choose matches your agency’s needs.

The post The Role of Mobile Command Centers When Cellular Networks Go Down appeared first on DRAXXON.

Draxxon specializes in Mobile Command Vehicles (MCVs) and Mobile Command Trailers designed for emergency operators, field operations, tactical teams, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flights. Choosing between our standalone command vehicles and towable command trailers comes down to your team’s needs and your budget.

As you explore the benefits of each option, keep in mind your deployment frequency, where you go, what equipment you currently have, and the space you need.

Both Trucks and Trailers Share These Features

No matter what you pick, MCVs and trailers share a few features.

• Climate and Environmental Control: On a hot day, the technology inside a van or trailer needs to be kept cool. You don’t want servers overheating at the worst possible time. Personnel also need to be comfortable on long missions. Winter’s brutal cold also deserves consideration, and you don’t want personnel dealing with frostbite at their station.
• Connectivity and Interoperability Suites: Stay connected and maintain clear visibility with Cradlepoint 4G/5G enterprise routers, high-gain antenna arrays, pneumatic telescoping masts with 360-degree PTZ optical and thermal camera payloads, and satellite mesh mounts.
• Exterior Tactical Viewing Stations: A large team isn’t going to fit into a truck or trailer for a briefing. Monitors that are visible in bright light or protected in pouring rain are important, and our weatherproof outdoor HDMI displays and audio systems perform perfectly in all conditions.
• Off-Grid Power Management: When you’re halfway up a mountain in a wildfire, you don’t have power outlets available. Even in the middle of a city, a hurricane can topple poles and cause extensive outages. High-capacity lithium battery banks paired with pure sine wave inverters, supported by onboard Honda or Cummins generators and shore power hookups, ensure you have power wherever you are.
• UAS Flight Stations: Keeping eyes in the sky is integral to many operations, and the charging stations and storage in both trucks and trailers let you keep one drone in the air while others charge. Switching them as batteries drain is simple. Onboard flight stations that protect pilots from the weather are another key feature.

Draxxon Command Trucks for Speedy All-in-One Deployment

Draxxon’s mobile command trucks, built on Ford Transit or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis, are built for agility and speed. They can reach off-road locations and provide everything you need for a fast, efficient response.

Key advantages:

• All-terrain access with 4×4 or AWD off-road suspension packages
• Easy to drive MCVs with no CDL necessary
• Maneuverability in tight city streets
• Set up in under 3 minutes

Recommended for:

• Emergency first responders
• High-frequency callout units
• SWAT/tactical teams
• Units that rapidly relocate during a shift

Downside:

Costly to replace, as you’re buying a whole new truck and the equipment in it.

Draxxon Mobile Command Trailers Provide a Scalable Workspace

Draxxon’s command trailers are more than 8 feet high and start with 16-foot tandem-axle models. Larger custom bumper-pull and gooseneck configurations ensure you find the best trailer for your floor plan preferences and operational needs.

Key advantages:

• 100% usable square footage with space for half a dozen workstations.
• Outlasts trucks, saving money down the road when a truck engine quits working.
• Towed to the area and left so that trucks are free to drive away for perimeter checks, supply runs, or other essential tasks.

Recommended for:

• Large-scale search and rescue
• Multi-day incident responses for natural disasters or weather-related events
• Private security mobile command hubs
• Security detail for multi-day events

Downside:

Not designed for off-road use. Towing the trailer to a location usually requires maintained roadways.

A Quick Comparison of Draxxon’s Truck and Trailer Features

Key Features for Emergency and Security Teams

When evaluating either platform, directors or managers need to look into specific features for emergency, high-stress operations.

• Dimmable Lighting: Late-night operations with bright white lighting can lead to eye fatigue. Dimmable interior lighting and tactical red lighting protect night vision.
• Interoperable Communications: Radio interoperability bridges gaps when teams operate on separate radio bands. Bringing everyone together on a unified tactical channel ensures no message gets lost.
• Silent Staging and Night Operations: Sometimes, you need to remain completely silent. A loud gas generator can give away your location or make it hard to hear radio calls. Draxxon platforms offer lithium-ion battery banks that allow teams to run communication equipment, computers, HVAC equipment, and monitors for hours.
• Strategic Surface Design: During a critical mission, you can’t waste time trying to find another pad of paper. The counters and work surfaces in Draxxon command vehicles and trailers double as whiteboards. Use dry erase pens and write wherever you like.

Tips for Making the Best Choice for Your Organization

Choosing a Draxxon command vehicle or command trailer comes down to your budget and requirements. It also depends on the work you do. Consider these points when deciding which you prefer.

• Budget: If the engine fails in 10 years, are you prepared to spend the money on an entirely new MCV again, or does a trailer’s longevity matter more?
• Frequent Emergency Call Outs: An MCV is ideal when you need to set up in seconds, not minutes.
• Long-Term Operations: Lengthy operations are best left to a trailer that you can park and leave on-site for teams to use throughout the night. Others can take a truck and return to the hotel or other accommodations until their next shift.
• Off-Road Capability: A trailer could get stuck on a mountain road, but an MCV is built for off-roading.

No matter what you choose, Draxxon’s customized solutions provide the communications technology, power, and UAS flight integration that supports your mission. Reach out to us with questions or to schedule a demonstration.

The post Truck or Trailer: Which is Best for Your Team? appeared first on DRAXXON.

If your organization still uses an isolated guard booth at each entrance and regularly scheduled foot patrols, you should consider the benefits of a private security command center. When you have real-time data, coordinated ground patrols, and advanced intelligence at your fingertips, your security measures safeguard every site.

Draxxon is an industry leader in mobile command vehicles and their role in multi-site security. With customizable options ranging from full vans to ground control platforms, you have full situational awareness exactly where it’s needed.

Understanding the Challenges of Multi-Site Security Management

Multi-site security management becomes quite complex, depending on the area being covered. A multi-facility tech manufacturing plant often has multiple buildings and roads into the facility. A college has lecture halls, dorms, offices, libraries, cafeterias, and sports areas. A gated community has houses, communal buildings, pools, and even parking garages.

If you look at some of the nation’s largest universities, employers, and gated communities, it’s clear how multi-site management becomes an issue.

Berry University – 27,000 acres

Park City Mountain – 7,300 acres

Apple Park – 175 acres

Google – 42 acres

Imagine the foot patrols, security camera views, and other aspects of security management required for any organization of this scale. It often seems impossible to manage, but it can be if you know and overcome the common challenges.

Communications

When you have multiple security personnel in different facilities, and they’re using radio channels, delayed messages are common. It makes it hard to share information as quickly as needed during a security or weather-related threat. 

Unified communication feeds are essential.

Delayed Incident Response

When you lack a centralized command center, it’s often impossible to evaluate the true gravity of incidents. You have to wait for images or messages to reach you. Until you have all of the information, you cannot issue commands for an emergency response. 

Messages need to get to the operations leader ASAP.

Fixed Infrastructure Constraints

A traditional command hub doesn’t offer the flexibility needed during a localized incident or one that’s off-grid in a remote corner. You have to rely on the eyes and ears of those on the ground, and their messages may not get into your brick-and-mortar office area as quickly as you need. Leaving your post isn’t acceptable. Your location constrains you. 

You need to be in the heart of the security area.

Inconsistent Monitoring

When you have surveillance teams in different areas, all monitoring cameras for the specific building or security checkpoint they’re stationed at, it’s hard to keep accurate incident logs. It also hinders real-time tracking and perimeter control. 

Real-time footage and data keep you informed.

A dedicated private security command center solves these frustrations by centralizing all data feeds, communications, and decision-making authority. 

Capabilities of Today’s Security Command Center

A centralized security command platform moves you from passive monitoring into mitigating active threats by using these features.

• Integrated Communication Systems: If you or your team are missing radio messages due to signal drops or frequency delays, you cannot effectively provide multi-site security. You need every message to be loud and clear, and it has to happen through a single, unified communications channel.
• Integrated Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS): Pilot-guided or autonomous drone operations perform aerial sweeps of perimeters, even at high altitudes. A drone scans acres far faster than your security personnel can do on foot.
• Rapid Deployment: Mobile command units bring the command center to the site, enabling rapid deployment. It has technology such as PTZ optical and thermal cameras, live streaming/broadcasting, and emergency lights and sirens to prevent deployment delays.
• Unified Video Surveillance and Analytics: Streams high-definition footage, thermal imaging, and AI-driven motion detection from all remote sites directly to central dispatchers.

Running an Effective Multi-Site Security Operation

Effective multi-site security operations start with the right physical command environment. You need one that is flexible, rugged, and equipped with reliable, essential technology.

Draxxon offers three levels of custom-engineered command platforms, each easily customized to match your specific needs for multi-site security operations.

Mobile Command Vehicles (DX-1000 Series)

The DX-1000 series is built on the Ford Transit or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter platforms, both of which offer available off-road capabilities. As they can go most anywhere, they’re a mobile control center with:

• All-terrain mobility for rapid deployments to remote locations, construction sites, or unusual terrain like a field or rocky beach.
• Multiple workstation layouts with ergonomic setups, whiteboard walls and counters, and multi-feed video walls.
• Seamless tech integration to make it easy to connect with your existing access control systems and camera networks.

Mobile Command Trailers and Towables (DX-816 Platforms)

When you have security operations that require you to be in the area for days or weeks, Draxxon’s custom towables—such as the DX-816 system provide the space and features you need.

• Choose a fully electric option for silent, continuous operation, powered by electricity or a zero-emission battery charged by solar panels.
• Multiple trailer sizes enable you to choose the space you need for advanced server racks, central dispatch controls, and communications technology.

Portable Ground Control Stations (GCS)

Sometimes, you need to be on the ground. A GCS is completely portable and enclosed in a durable Pelican case. The GCS has:

• Monitors that are daylight viewable and make it easy to view UAS streams, site maps, and thermal imaging without having to go into a tent or shady area. 
• Fits easily into a truck and isn’t too heavy to carry long distances if you have to travel to reach the incident area.

Other Areas of Consideration

Don’t overlook the value of integrated aerial reconnaissance and counter-UAS. As drone usage increases, it increases the risk of privacy intrusion and aerial threats. A multi-site security plan needs to include airspace awareness. 

Draxxon platforms pair UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) flight management with Counter-UAS (C-UAS) detection tools. Monitor and identify unauthorized aerial drones around or in the perimeters you’re safeguarding. Have defensive protocols in place in case of a breach or attack.

Improve Your Agency’s Multi-Site Defense Strategy

Delayed responses or gaps in your security protocols damage your reputation and can leave campuses, gated communities, or large facilities at risk. Make sure your monitoring operations include a private security command center that provides rapid threat detection, seamless communication, and continuous oversight.

Don’t leave your multi-site security to chance. Partner with the industry leaders in custom mobile command technology. Visit Draxxon‘s website today to speak with a mobile command specialist, explore custom vehicle configurations, and design a turnkey security command solution engineered for your exact operational requirements.

The post How a Private Security Command Center Improves Multi-Site Security appeared first on DRAXXON.

At the same time, the number of wildfires is increasing. Just one day in August 2026 saw 101 new fires occur. In a wildland-urban interface (WUI), vegetation from forests and other wooded areas allows wildfires to spread quickly, putting those residential developments at risk. A multi-agency response is required, and fire chiefs need to be prepared to handle incident command with the technology and tools that lead to success.

When managing massive fires, hazardous materials incidents, search-and-rescue operations, or natural disaster responses, situational awareness requires flawless communications and real-time data. This is where a Fire Mobile Command Center (MCC) transitions from “nice to have” to an absolute necessity.

That’s where DRAXXON comes in. We engineer specialized mobile command centers that deliver the technology and features fire departments need on the front lines and behind the scenes.

Challenges Fire Services Face and Their Solutions

Modern fire services face newer challenges each year. Some of this is due to climate change, with more intense storms and temperature fluctuations. Urban sprawl is also part of the picture. Some of the biggest challenges aren’t easily resolved using traditional firefighting equipment and technology. That’s where mobile command vehicles come in.

• Communications: Fire, police, EMTs, and National Guard members communicate on their own dedicated channels. As a fire chief, you need to know what EMTs are sharing, and they need to know what’s going on at the front lines of a fire. Bottlenecks in communications aren’t helpful. Interoperability is a must-have technology now.
• Environmental and Operational Fatigue: Directing an all-day or multi-day incident amid constant distractions from noise and extreme weather is exhausting. It’s important to have AC or heat and ergonomic workstations that help prevent fatigue. When a commander gets fatigued, it’s important to quickly hand over command to another person, so cross-training is also essential.
• Incident Complexity: Your fire department is rarely the only agency showing up for incident command. Working together and sharing real-time data is possible with multiple monitors and broadcasting technology in a mobile command center.
• Information Overload: Incident Commanders (ICs) don’t have to rely solely on voice radio. Live video feeds, spatial GIS mapping, thermal imagery, and weather radars provide a wealth of information that leads to success.

Key Advantages of a Mobile Command Center

When you know the biggest frustrations with traditional fire services, it becomes clear how a modern mobile command center makes a difference.

• Centralized and Unified Incident Command: Mobile command units provide a climate-controlled, secure environment that’s free of distractions and extraneous noise. Fire chiefs, EMS supervisors, police commanders, and other critical personnel sit side by side, sharing information as it comes in and working to create a multifaceted response that leads to successful missions.
• Enhanced Interoperability: If a severe storm or wildfire knocks out radio towers, it doesn’t matter. Mobile command centers provide robust redundancy in the area. Satellite uplinks, multi-band radio gateways, and cellular bonding routers ensure that voice communications and data are never lost or delayed when the local infrastructure is down.
• Real-Time UAS Integration: UAS, or drones, have completely changed how ground tactics operate. Instead of risking a firefighter going into the heavy smoke to report what lies ahead, drones can capture real-time optical and thermal video feeds and transmit them to the mobile command vehicle. With the help of UAS, shifting winds, structural collapse, and thermal hotspots are identified before risking any personnel. UAS flight and recharging stations are onboard to keep drones in the air and pilots safe.
• Safer Environments: The front lines can be dangerous. Mobile command units are equipped with high-definition monitors, real-time video feeds, weather radars, and technology to track crew locations. 

DRAXXON Mobile Command Solutions for Fire Departments

Off-the-shelf vehicles are rarely the best choice for mobile command platforms. A fire department in California has different needs from one in Florida. While California experiences heavy snow and mountainous wildfires, Florida is more likely to have hurricanes and floods. The technological needs shift from one area to the next.

DRAXXON provides scalable mobile command assets designed for your geographic terrain, budget, and district size. We have three primary options.

• Portable Ground Stations: Command systems designed to be fully portable and deployed in seconds. Its screen is visible even in bright sunlight.
• DX-Series Trailers: A towable mobile command station with a large workspace and multiple stations. Fully electric functionality is possible and could be adapted to solar power for continuous operation without the need for fuel.
• DX-1000 Vehicles: The mobile command vehicle is built on a Ford Transit or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van and features off-road capabilities. Ergonomic workstations keep personnel comfortable, even if they’re working for an entire day without a break. Dry-erase counters, walls, and multiple monitors are included. An integrated UAS desk is ideal for flying and monitoring footage captured in real-time by unmanned aircraft (drones).

DRAXXON’s Special Projects Division works with you to design and build a specific mobile command vehicle that includes everything you need for your department. If our primary mobile command assets aren’t enough, we work with you to ensure you’re prepared for any situation you face.

DRAXXON Platforms: Features and Technology 

While there are three main platforms available, it’s the technology and features within them that make all the difference. 

• Enterprise Connectivity: Cradlepoint 4G/5G bonded cellular routers pair with satellite connectivity to ensure uninterrupted CAD access, data streaming, and Wi-Fi.
• High-Visibility Systems: Lighting is crucial, especially for missions that extend well into the night. Integrated emergency lighting, perimeter lights, powered awnings, and privacy enclosures for team meetings make a difference.
• Integrated Weather Stations: Onboard weather stations provide real-time data on ambient temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, and wind speed and direction.
• Live Streaming and Broadcasting: Live feeds from mast cameras and UAS are routed to interior high-resolution displays and can be broadcast to remote headquarters.
• Pneumatic and Telescoping Mast: High-definition Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) optical and thermal cameras extend up to 30 feet or more into the air for 360-degree views. No drones are needed to get those immediate images.

Long-Term ROI for Growing Fire Departments

Even if the expense is justified to your department, it may not be clear to taxpayers in the community. You need to understand and share the long-term return on investment (ROI) to municipal leaders and area residents.

• Future-Proofed Equipment: One of the benefits of a DRAXXON mobile command center is its modularity. Instead of having to replace an entire van a few years later, you simply upgrade components to keep your existing van packed with the best technology available.
• Personal Safety and Community Protection: You cannot put a price on human lives. When a mobile command center allows you to quickly evacuate residents or stop a fire from spreading, you’ve saved countless lives. Keeping your firefighters safe is just as important.
• Reduced Property Loss: A storm, fire, or natural disaster can destroy homes and businesses. When you can quickly assess and stop devastation, you prevent or minimize substantial property loss that would otherwise occur.

Don’t overlook the possibility of securing regional, state, and federal grant funding to help offset the cost of DRAXXON mobile command centers. Applying for grants is a good way to get exactly what you need while lessening the impact on taxpayers.

DRAXXON offers customized mobile command vehicles that offer exactly what you need. Reach us online to schedule a demonstration or discuss your community and the technology and features that matter the most to your crew.

The post Why Every Growing Fire Department Needs a Fire Mobile Command Center appeared first on DRAXXON.

From the power grids supplying electricity to the natural gas that heats and cools homes across the country, infrastructure is essential. That also makes it one of the most important areas to protect from cyber attacks, intentional damage, and severe weather.

When a tornado destroys a substation or a hacker takes over a water treatment plant, there’s no time to waste. Fixed command centers can’t act fast enough to help protect the people relying on those systems. Flexibility and adaptability are essential and exactly what Mobile Command Centers (MCCs) provide.

DRAXXON’s line of towable trailers and rugged van MCCs allow emergency management, security, and utility companies to get to the site as quickly as possible while providing the command, control, and intelligence needed to manage and resolve the situation.

Common Vulnerabilities in Today’s Infrastructure

Earlier in July 2026, massive thunderstorms impacted several towns and cities in New Jersey. Four inches of rain fell in one hour in Camden County. More than 650 trees fell, blocking trains and taking out power lines, leaving over 750,000 residents without power. 

The damage to the infrastructure was tremendous, and it also posed a problem for people trying to deal with the extreme heat. It showcased a greater problem with modern infrastructure and weather events. When there’s so much to fix at once, where do you start?

Protecting the infrastructure requires constant monitoring of not only the data coming in from facilities and substations but also weather maps. An action plan needs to be drawn up, tested, and ready to use at a moment’s notice. Cross-agency communication must be seamless.

Three areas need to be considered in that action plan because of the vulnerabilities they often experience.

Disaster Recovery/Emergency Restoration

Following a natural disaster like a blizzard, flood, hurricane, ice storm, or tornado, the weather conditions often take out cell towers, power cables, telecommunication lines, and utility poles. Not only do lines need to be repaired or restrung, but you also need teams with the equipment to melt ice, pump away standing water, move snow, and repair broken poles and towers.

While this work is completed, MCCs help provide updates to each team and relay messages, keep the media informed, and monitor weather maps for additional storms that may impact repairs and restoration measures. As there’s no power or cell service, MCCs provide the power and communications infrastructure that’s necessary to complete the work.

Power Infrastructure Resilience

In many regions, miles and miles of power lines bring power from substations to homes and businesses. Those over-ground transmission lines are prone to damage from the weather, falling trees, sabotage, and thermal overload. Buried lines are better protected, but still subject to damage from earthquakes, landslides, and extreme heat.

Finding and repairing damage, especially when it’s weather-related, takes time and can bring technicians and repair teams over tough terrain. MCCs provide essential technology like Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) with charging and piloting stations to guide workers to where they need to be in the safest way possible.

Water Infrastructure and Security

Power and phone service are important parts of the infrastructure, but everyone needs water to survive. The threat of poisoned drinking water sources is a real consideration in today’s world. The nation’s aqueducts, reservoirs, underground lines, and water treatment plants require physical protection and security from pollution during catastrophic storms.

To address these challenges, municipalities need access to high-bandwidth data processing of water samples and equipment readings, even if the power and telecom systems are out. The use of UAS helps security teams monitor miles of water sources without having to hike to the location. 

Infrastructure Defense Requires Key Technologies

Mobile command centers provide commanders and other team members with shelter while working, but they also provide a wealth of technology that aids the technicians and other workers as they do their jobs.

Heavy-Duty Telescoping Masts: DRAXXON’s DX-1000 can be fitted with heavy-duty pneumatic or electric telescoping masts with signal boosters. They provide high-magnification, Pan-Tilt-Zoom optical cameras, thermal imagers, and weather monitoring stations.

Integrated UAS Operations: Charge battery packs so that as one UAS comes in, the next is already heading out. Onboard piloting stations enable the flight commander to work from a sheltered location with monitors that are visible in the bright sunlight. Real-time footage of the terrain is always available, even in smoky or foggy conditions.

Resilient On-Board Communications & Edge Computing: Primary cell towers may be down after a severe weather event or wildfire, but an MCC from DRAXXON has enterprise-grade Cradlepoint 4G LTE/5G multi-WAN routers, auto-pointing satellite uplinks, and mesh radio systems. Reliable communications allow for quick, problem-free uploads, diagnostics, and access to geographic information systems.

DRAXXON’s MCC Options and Benefits

DRAXXON is a leader in custom modular command environments for mission-critical operations. We offer off-road vehicles on durable chassis and long-duration command trailers that you can tow to your preferred site and leave in place until the mission is over. We also have portable ground stations.

The DX-1000 Mobile Command Vehicle

DRAXXON builds the DX-1000 on a heavy-duty Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter chassis. It’s an easy-to-drive van that doesn’t require a CDL, but the four-wheel drive and all-terrain suspension make it easy to drive in remote areas. It can get to flooded substations and off-grid mountain roads.

Technology includes multiple monitors, climate-controlled flight and workstations, dry-erase surfaces, onboard imagery recording systems, and ergonomic seating. 

The DX-816 Mobile Command Trailer

When restorations are expected to take days or weeks, it’s often easier to tow a DX-816 to the site and leave it there until the mission is over. With 8.5 by 16 feet of space, there’s a lot of room for your work. The fully-electric power options are ideal for restorations where the power grid is down.

Portable Ground Control Stations (GCS)

When terrain prevents you from accessing the area in a vehicle, DRAXXON’s Pelican-case Portable Ground Control Stations are perfect. They’re equipped with daylight-visible monitors, tactical battery power, and telemetry links in a portable, compact unit. If you have to hike in to reach a hydroelectric dam, a portable GCS is best.

DRAXXON Provides Scalable Reliability for Infrastructure Protection

If your district relies on security that’s sitting back at headquarters and maintenance teams that go into the field when something goes wrong, you’re missing opportunities to protect your infrastructure from storms, attackers, and the environment.

Predictive maintenance alerts you to potential issues before they cause lengthy outages or downtimes. MCCs make it possible to bring today’s technology to the field. As technology changes, swap components for newer options. These are essential parts of managing the infrastructure in scalable, effective ways.

By using off-road capabilities with the DX-816 or DX-1000, plus integrated drones and high-bandwidth satellite communications, your team stays connected. You work cohesively to protect the energy grids, natural gas lines, and water networks. 

Give our experts a call or schedule a demonstration to see the many benefits of utilizing DRAXXON’s MCCs and technological features. With a custom-designed MCC at your disposal, the infrastructure is protected against everything from weather to bad players.

The post The Role of Mobile Command Centers in Infrastructure Protection (Utilities, Water, Power) appeared first on DRAXXON.

In all of the chaos and anxiety comes a need for resilience and reliability. It’s up to local, state, and federal agencies to build a mobile command center (MCC) deployment plan that’s ready to go before a disaster hits. 

Choose the Right Asset

One of the biggest mistakes we see is when organizations assume that mobile command vehicles (MCVs) are one-size-fits-all. It’s rarely the case. A large van might be great for helping during a hurricane, but it struggles to navigate narrow mountain trails where lightning has started a fire.

You need to choose assets that match the mission’s scale. DRAXXON’s mobile command assets come in three tiers, making it easy to match the asset to the job at hand.

Tier I: Mobile Command Vehicles

The DX-1000 is built on a ruggedized Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter chassis with off-road suspensions and marine-grade components. They’re designed for rough roads and packed with features such as multiple monitors, UAS stations, climate control, and ergonomic workstations for comfort during long shifts.

Tier II: Mobile Trailers & Towables

For longer disaster campaigns, towables help. You need a stationary MCC, but it must be equipped with essential technology that provides the infrastructure required to do the job. 

DRAXXON DX-816 is an 8.5′ x 16′ extended height trailer, and additional lengths are possible. The mobile trailer is small enough to tow off-road in narrow places, making it handy when you have to go into the woods. 

With generators, onboard servers, and fully electric options, you have the optimal workspace for UAS and ground control operations.

Tier III: Portable Ground Control Stations

Floods washed a bridge out. Mudslides made the roads impassible. You’re on foot for part of the mission, so you need something easy to carry to the scene. 

Portable Ground Control Stations are built into ruggedized, waterproof Pelican cases. Bring them with you anywhere you need to be. They set up in minutes and have daylight-viewable monitors that make it easy to work out in the open without struggling to see the real-time footage.

Outline the Standard Operating Procedures

Now that you have the MCC you need for the mission, you need standard operating procedures to go with it. Your comprehensive pre-disaster plan must determine who is on the team, where it is headed, and how it’s structured.

Phase 1: Assemble Crews

The first phase is to have your crews outlined and then trigger the response. You need to know who is doing what in each state. If there’s a tornado, you’ll have the watch first to see where it touches down, and then once it has, the warning triggers the response. 

You need to have someone already trained and ready to drive the MCV or towable. You need a communications specialist and the UAS pilot. Someone needs to be able to interpret any incoming data and images. Consider the mission and who the essential team members are for each step.

Phase 2: Getting to the Staging Site

The team is in place, so it’s time to get to the site. Navigation can be tricky, as there may be downed trees or washed-out roads. A wildfire may block specific routes for safety reasons. Low-hanging wires might be a problem for a tall trailer.

Drivers and teams on the MCV or in the truck must have reliable GPS tracking and video surveillance to alert them to issues ahead, and another route must be calculated as quickly as possible. 

Phase 3: Select Your Site and Set the Scene

You already know the general destination, but once you arrive, you have to find the ideal location to set up. If you’re working in a state park, you’ll want a level spot for an MCV. When the mast is fully extended, you don’t want a slope putting you at risk of toppling the vehicle. 

Once the site is selected, stabilization jacks are set up to secure the vehicle or trailer from shifting. Awnings and any tents go up. If you’ll be working at night, lighting is arranged to ensure people can see the area they’re working in or holding briefs.

Phase 4: Setting Up the Infrastructure

The trailer or van is stabilized, and the workspaces are set up. Masts and antennas are deployed, and systems are powered up. The infrastructure is next. 

Start by booting up the internal infrastructure and raising masts. Choose the power source, whether you’re running on a generator or going for silent operations with an inverter/battery. 

As systems load, choose the network and register your local device. This gets everyone online and makes it easy to share information.

You do need a reliable network for radio communications and real-time information sharing, so you need to prevent network failures. Multi-layered communication is needed in an off-grid network ecosystem. Look for:

• Cradlepoint 4G LTE/5G routers
• Exterior antennas and signal boosters
• Live stream and broadcasting capabilities

Become Self-Sustaining for Long Deployments

Not every disaster is resolved in a few days. Sometimes, mobile command centers are needed for weeks. If a fire is working its way through a forested area, the mobile command center will remain until it’s under control, which can take time.

Because missions can take weeks or months, they need to be self-sustaining. Consider combination generators from Cummins or Honda. 

They have advanced inverter and battery power blocks that allow you to switch to silent battery operations instead of drawing on fuel. You could also look into fully electric power options using solar panels and large-capacity lithium battery storage.

UAS Systems Ensure Real-Time Situational Awareness

Disaster preparation and responses are no longer managed solely from the ground. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are an essential part of operations because they can reach where your teams cannot access.

UAS are important for tracking wildfires, even through heavy smoke, and for using thermal and aerial imagery to detect surface changes or assess the structural integrity of a building following an earthquake. 

An advanced MCC deployment plan details exactly how your ground teams and UAS will work together. The DX-1000 provides dedicated interior workstation areas, battery-charging arrays, and dry-erase walls and counters for mapping flight grids. This ensures there are no gaps in UAS operations and information sharing.

Sharing Real-Time Data

UAS are essential for providing real-time images in disaster zones. The live-feed videos and thermal images provide views into areas where team members would be in danger or unable to reach easily. 

You need a mobile command center that can share these videos and images to daylight-viewable monitors for team members to see during briefings. You also need multiple videos so that the incident commander can watch both the high-res optical feed and thermal images and heat signatures simultaneously.

Mitigating Drone Downtime

During a prolonged disaster, UAS operations face hurdles such as drained batteries. If a pilot has to wait for a drone’s batteries to charge, it’s frustrating and impacts everyone waiting for essential real-time footage.

Your MCC deployment framework has to incorporate a continuous rotation schedule. While one UAS is in the sky, another is charging, or multiple battery packs are charging. Built-in inverter power systems and high-output battery banks make this possible. As soon as one UAS lands, another is fully charged and ready to launch. 

Stay on Top of Maintenance, Training, and Practice Drills

Once you have your deployment plan set, you need to stay on top of practices, training, and maintenance. The last thing you want is to have an important mission and find your team or equipment isn’t ready.

Every week, check the vehicle’s tire pressure and fluid levels. Run the secondary generator for 30 minutes. 

Once a month, raise the telescoping mast. Wipe down the tubes to remove any pollen, dirt, or grime. Test the cameras and run any necessary updates on the onboard routers and networks. Each year, lubricate the mast with a silicone-based lubricant by injecting it into the weep holes.

Throughout the year, make sure your personnel complete practice drills. It’s also helpful to have some members cross-train in other areas so that if someone is sick or injured, others are trained and ready to take over.

The Right MCC Ensures Success

A mobile command center is more than a tactical vehicle to use during disasters. DRAXXON’s vehicles, trailers, and portable command centers ensure success while protecting others, even when the infrastructure collapses. 

With a solid action plan, the right equipment, and regular drills, your next mission will be a success. Reach out to DRAXXON to let us know what you could face in the future, and we’ll help you prepare for every possible hurdle.

The post How Agencies Can Build a Mobile Command Center Deployment Plan Before Disaster Strikes appeared first on DRAXXON.

The specialized vehicle will allow officers to coordinate drone operations directly from the field during critical incidents, large events and search operations.

The mobile command center serves as a command-and-control platform designed to support various public safety missions. Built on a chassis similar to a Ford Transit or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, the unit is designed to operate in a variety of environments and response situations.

Inside the vehicle, officers have access to an integrated workspace featuring advanced technology to monitor drone footage and coordinate operations.

The setup allows for real-time decision-making during active incidents while keeping personnel out of the elements during long deployments.

The unit also includes multiple charging stations to support sustained drone operations.

“We are grateful to QuikTrip and the Gastonia Police Foundation for helping us continue to bring innovative technology to public safety” said Police Chief Trent Conard in a news release.

The mobile command center is equipped to operate a tethered drone system. This system provides continuous power through a physical tether, allowing a drone to remain airborne for extended periods. This capability is designed to provide consistent aerial monitoring for large scenes or events where long-term surveillance is necessary.

The Gastonia Police Drone Team was established in 2021 to provide aerial support for public safety missions. The team currently consists of 13 members from the Gastonia Police Department and six members from the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office. The department currently operates six drones.

Watch the full news segment here.

The post Draxxon Featured on WSOC-TV 9 as Gastonia Police Unveil Mobile Drone Command appeared first on DRAXXON.

As wildfire seasons get longer and harder to control, fire departments across the nation struggle with balancing the importance of a fast response in environments where infrastructure is damaged beyond repair or didn’t exist in the first place.

When a wildfire is burning deep in the wilderness or moving fast towards urban areas, stationary command centers are ineffective. This is why today’s fire departments are increasingly relying on mobile command centers. Draxxon works with public safety agencies to ensure they have the innovation and technology needed for a tactical deployment.

The Challenges of Wildfire Command and Control

Command staff has so much to do when it comes to managing a wildfire. From the hotshots on the ground and flight crews handling aerial water drops to smokejumpers and handcrews, the data needs to be analyzed quickly to give split-second commands to each team in dangerous, ever-changing conditions. 

While speed is essential, four obstacles prove challenging during a wildfire. These can make it impossible to do your job effectively.

• Communication Blackouts: Wildfires quickly destroy cellphone towers, fiber optic lines, and power lines. Plus, the terrain can impact the quality of radio signals and transmissions.
• Extreme Terrain: Wildfires don’t help you out by staying within accessible areas. The command center often has to navigate logging trails, overgrown mountain paths, and deep chasms.
• Rapidly Changing Conditions: As a wildfire intensifies, winds can shift, altering the fire’s trajectory. Waiting for a radio call from the ground crew or a weather report from local meteorologists is impractical. Real-time weather conditions and terrain maps are essential for planning strategic movements to ensure teams aren’t trapped.
• Visibility in Heavy Smoke: Visibility diminishes in heavy smoke. Ground crews may not have much information to give because they can only see a short distance. It makes it hard to gather the necessary information.
  

Technology offers ways to overcome those limitations. With custom-engineered mobile command centers, fire departments can establish a local command unit with real-time data and lag-free communications at the edge of a hot zone.

Draxxon’s Mobile Command Fleet

As a wildfire builds, the teams you need and the demands on them change. Being ready from initial staging through the end, when the fire is smoldering at a manageable level, is important. No two fires are identical, so the command capabilities need to match the situation.

That’s where Draxxon’s mobile command options make a difference. They’re designed to be exactly what you need, and components are easily swapped out if something needs to be upgraded or added. We work with you to ensure you have the technology and tools that matter most.

Mobile Command Vehicles

Our mobile command vehicles (DX-1000_ are built onto durable chassis like the Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter. Off-road suspension allows you to go where needed. They don’t require a CDL, making it easy for any licensed driver to get behind the wheel. 

Mobile Command Trailers & Towables

If you’d rather tow a mobile command trailer, we offer the DX-816, an 8.5 x 16-foot towable. They have interior workstations with climate control and dry-erase board counters and walls.

Portable Ground Control Stations (PGCS)

When the terrain is completely impassable, our PGCS provides a small-footprint, localized control station that you carry with you for lightning-fast deployment. The technology sits within a rugged, waterproof Pelican case. 

Customized Solutions

If you have your own design, no problem. Our Special Projects Division (SPD) works with you to design and manufacture the mobile command center you visualize. It doesn’t matter the scale of the project; we make it happen.

The Technology Behind a Wildfire Response

Within those mobile command centers comes a suite of technology that makes a difference in how the battle is fought. A modern command center can capture a wealth of data, analyze and structure it, and broadcast it to the teams who urgently need it.

Several areas of technology provide quality data that makes this possible.

Multi-Agency Communications

Wildfire containment brings several agencies together. You might have several volunteer fire departments, National Guard units, state forestry teams, and federal smokejumpers. Communications used to be a hurdle because each team operated on different radio bands and channels. 

Advanced mobile command centers use high-tier communication suites with multi-band interoperability hardware and mobile networking, such as Cradlepoint 4G/5G routers. You also have satellite uplinks that automatically deploy when needed. 

This technology brings everyone together on a unified network. There’s no lag, static, or lost feed. Messages make it to the teams in real-time, even if you have a mobile command unit miles from the front lines.

Outdoor Viewing Stations for Group Updates

The people stationed in a mobile command unit’s work area have a clear view of the different monitors and screens. That provides the convenience of quickly gathering data, but sometimes that data needs to be shared with a full team.

It’s wasteful to bring in a couple of team members to view the footage and then bring in another two members. You can’t fit the full team within the van. That’s where high-brightness, daylight-viewable outdoor monitors make a huge difference. Update the entire team at once.

Everyone sees the same real-time drone streams and topography maps at the same time.

Gathering data is only half the battle; it must be visualized and interpreted to be useful. Modern command center platforms feature an array of internal and external displays designed to align all stakeholders on a unified operating picture.

Power Resilience

Think about the vehicles going into a fire zone. They often run on gas, which means fuel is constantly being consumed. The longer an engine idles, the more fuel that’s consumed. If you’re hundreds of miles from a gas station, it impacts the mission.

Even if there are electrical hook-ups, the chances of the power staying on are low. As the fire decimates the terrain, power lines are often toppled as poles burn and fall.

Today’s mobile command centers don’t have to rely on gasoline or diesel. Many run on electricity powered by generators, and the on-board generators have high-capacity inverters and batteries. Turn the engine off, but the AC, computers, monitors, and flight stations remain active. 

Add solar panels to your mobile command center’s rooftop, and solar can power everything you need for the entire mission. Not only is it quieter, but it also has no emissions. Stay inside, away from the smoke and ashes, and don’t worry about power loss or excessive heat damaging your valuable computer equipment.

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Integration

Since unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have grown in popularity, they’ve become an essential tool for providing video footage of hard-to-reach areas. They offer real-time footage of wildfire movement that humans simply cannot match. 

From the safety of an interior station or rooftop piloting station, drones are safely operated by up to four operators at once. Day and night, they return Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) footage that alerts fire crews to increasing intensity, trajectory changes, and obstacles.

Drones equipped with advanced thermal imaging sensors can see the ground even in heavy smoke, and help map the fire’s perimeter, find hot spots, and locate breaches in fire lines. This provides insight to guide the team’s plan of attack and keep everyone safe.

What Sets Draxxon Apart

Across the nation, fire departments deal with a particular set of constraints that make their needs unique. Arid conditions in Arizona or New Mexico differ from the humid conditions in a state like Florida or Louisiana. The mountains of Washington present challenges that a flatter terrain like Kansas doesn’t. 

As your crews face specific challenges and environmental hazards, it’s important to have a highly customized mobile command unit that supports successful missions. Draxxon’s customizations provide a tactical unit packed with technology that matters most.

We don’t just manufacture the mobile command unit and leave you to it. We’re here to show you exactly how everything works, so you’re ready for the next wildfire you face. Reach out to us online to request a demonstration.

The post How Fire Departments Are Using Mobile Command Centers to Coordinate Wildfire Response appeared first on DRAXXON.