Damovo unveils defence comms platform for coalition ops

Damovo has introduced a communications platform for defence organisations and the wider defence industry, developed with Rocket.Chat, Mitel and Pexip.

The platform is designed to connect messaging, video and telephony across the different national systems used by military and security bodies.

It aims to address a common problem in alliance operations, where partners need to communicate across separate systems in ministries, headquarters and field deployments. Damovo said staff are more likely to turn to private consumer apps when approved systems do not connect easily.

The platform combines messaging, video and voice conferencing, and telephony within a federated identity framework. It can run on unclassified and classified networks and can be federated across domain boundaries under relevant security policies, according to Damovo.

A single code base supports deployment in an organisation's own data centre, in a secure cloud or on isolated networks. Damovo said this is intended to keep applications, data and metadata under the organisation's control.

The system supports XMPP, used in NATO's Federated Mission Networking, and the Matrix protocol. According to Damovo, this allows armed forces and defence contractors to work together without bridges or gateways between systems.

"Partners in coalition operations or joint defence programmes rarely work on the same systems," said Sebastian Tietz, Chief Commercial Officer at Damovo. "Our interoperable platform connects them without any nation having to relinquish control over its data."

Damovo has combined products from Rocket.Chat, Mitel and Pexip into a managed service. Rocket.Chat serves as the main workspace, while users can launch Pexip video conferences and Mitel calls from within it.

Field use

The platform can be deployed as a unified communications system at headquarters and on mobile devices. It is also intended to continue operating under denied, degraded, intermittent or limited bandwidth conditions, often referred to as DDIL.

This is aimed at tactical environments where a constant connection to a central data centre may not be available. The platform can also integrate with TAK and ATAK situational awareness systems.

Damovo is demonstrating the software in an air-gapped mobile deployment kit linked to ATAK. In that setup, a server housed in a ruggedised transit case supports local messaging, video and telephony without a central data centre or stable external connection.

Partner roles

Rocket.Chat provides the central collaboration layer. Damovo said the software holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification and a SOC 2 Type 2 report, and follows a zero-trust approach with attribute-based access control.

It added that Rocket.Chat is already used by several European armed forces and in NATO CCDCOE coalition exercises involving more than 40 nations. Mitel supplies telephony, while Pexip provides the self-hosted video conferencing element.

According to Damovo, Mitel's telephony product is JITC-certified and can run in an organisation's own data centre or in hybrid models. Rocket.Chat can also be linked to existing telephone systems.

Pexip provides video conferencing within the combined platform. Damovo said the software is used in government, defence and judicial settings internationally.

The platform also includes artificial intelligence tools within Rocket.Chat for tasks such as summaries and translations. Damovo said those functions can run on an organisation's own models and infrastructure so data remains under its control.

The announcement reflects a broader push across defence and government communications to reduce dependence on fragmented systems while maintaining data sovereignty and operational resilience in disconnected environments.