When conventional networks go down, or are simply not an option, teams operating in the field still need to coordinate. Akita MeshTAK is an open-source Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) plugin that addresses this by bridging ATAK with Meshtastic, the low-power, decentralised radio mesh networking platform.

The plugin is developed by Akita Engineering and published under the GNU General Public License v3.0 on GitHub.

What It Does

Akita MeshTAK integrates directly into the ATAK interface, allowing field operators to share location data via Cursor on Target (CoT) messages and send text messages across a Meshtastic mesh network, all without relying on cellular, Wi-Fi, or satellite connectivity.

Device connectivity is supported over three bearers: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Serial (USB), and optionally MQTT. If one bearer becomes unavailable, the plugin performs automatic failover to the next, while preserving any queued messages in the process.

Key Capabilities

Guaranteed Delivery Mailbox. Outgoing messages are queued and tracked through three states: Pending, In Flight, and Delivered. They are only marked complete when a receipt is returned from the peer device across the mesh.

Mission Assurance Dashboard. Before releasing field traffic, operators can check a dashboard that surfaces the current posture of encryption, provisioning, audit logging, and interoperability in one place.

Air-Gapped Provisioning. The provisioning workflow supports fully offline bundle generation and application. Once generated, the active secret can be staged to a connected device over a trusted local route. Transport keys are derived using PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 with a device and purpose salt.

Tactical Map Overlays. The plugin adds layers directly to the ATAK map, including route health, mission geofences, search sectors, and callouts for stale markers.

Mission Profiles. Operators can select from pre-configured profiles suited for Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Coast Guard, Military, or Private Security workflows.

No-Hardware Rehearsal Mode. A Mock Transport Mode allows the full workflow, including queued frames, peer acknowledgements, and provisioning events, to be rehearsed without a physical radio present.

Operational Themes. The UI supports Dark Ops, Light Ops, Night Red (strict monochrome), and Night Green (strict monochrome) display modes for different field environments.

Security Model

The project takes an explicit stance on security configuration. Deployment values such as BLE UUIDs, provisioning secrets, and MQTT credentials are injected at build time using environment variables via firmware/tools/load_build_config.py, rather than hardcoded in source files. Placeholder values intentionally fail production firmware builds unless a specific override flag is set or the CI rehearsal target is used.

The plugin also includes BLE and Serial command rate limiting to reduce exposure to command-flood attempts, along with audit log export and a security state reload action.

Build Requirements

The project is primarily written in Java (81.5%), with C++ (13.2%), C (3.4%), and Python (1.9%) making up the remainder. Android builds require Java 17 or 21. Java 26 is noted as unreliable with the current Gradle and Android Gradle Plugin combination at the time of writing.

Documentation

The repository includes a documentation directory with a Technical Manual, Operator’s Manual, System Specification, Security Guide, Developer Guide, and an OpenTAKServer compatibility reference. A static HTML file (documentation/ui_preview.html) provides a no-hardware visual preview of the toolbar and dashboard.

Who It’s For

The plugin targets law enforcement tactical teams, military dismounted units, search and rescue teams, first responders, and security personnel who need reliable coordination in environments where standard communications infrastructure is absent or compromised.

The project is available at github.com/AkitaEngineering/Akita-MeshTAK under the GPL-3.0 licence.

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