Persistent Systems, LLC

Persistent Systems has built a business on one networking idea and refused to wander far from it. Herbert Rubens and David Holmer started the company in Baltimore in 2007 around Wave Relay, a mobile ad hoc network in which every radio also works as a router, so a formation of hundreds of nodes forms its own network, heals around the nodes it loses and keeps running with no tower, hub or fixed infrastructure behind it. Production stayed in Manhattan. The company built its own plant and now occupies roughly 60,000 square feet on the west side of New York, keeping design, manufacturing and test under one roof at a time when most of the industry was moving assembly somewhere cheaper, and it expects to pass 450 staff by the end of 2026.

The dismount line is the part soldiers actually handle. MPU5 is a wearable smart radio running an Android based operating system that carries data, video and voice at once, with Tactical Assault Kit software and the Wave Relay plugin loaded before it ships. Sitting with it are the Rugged Display and Controller, a 5.7 inch touchscreen launched in 2020, a Dual Push-To-Talk controller that splits traffic across two independent talk groups, and the PT5, a wearable 5G modem and Wi-Fi access point that pulls a team's tablets and phones onto the same network. Land vehicles take GVR5, a dual band system engineered with General Dynamics Mission Systems in C, L and S band pairings that ties into vehicle intercom. Aircraft take the Airborne Wave Relay System, a quick install line replaceable unit holding a Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate for selected fixed wing types.

Manned and unmanned air and ground platforms reach the same network through the Embedded Module, a size and power optimised board that drops Wave Relay into a drone, a ground robot or a sensor mast, while interchangeable radio modules cover L band, S band and upper and lower C band on the same chassis. Infrastructure nodes use the Integrated Antenna Series of directional and sector antennas. Cloud Relay pushes the network past line of sight by bridging separated mesh bubbles over internet, cellular or satellite backhaul. Security is engineered in rather than bolted on, using authenticated encryption with a quantum resistant pre-shared key, and the National Security Agency has approved Wave Relay for classified traffic under the Commercial Solutions for Classified programme. Uncrewed aircraft systems operators are a named market of their own, and the Wave Relay Ecosystem gathers ground, air and surface vehicle makers with sensor and software partners so a unit can run borrowed equipment on one network instead of three.

Federal work has compounded. The Army ordered $87.5 million of equipment for its Next Generation Command and Control prototype in February 2026 on top of a $34 million order the previous October, the Air Force runs a $25 million sustainment contract for its Wave Relay Tactical Assault Kit programme, and the FBI made Persistent a prime on a $100 million tactical mesh contract in 2017. The UK Ministry of Defence chose Wave Relay for Project CAIN in 2026.