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Global Military Communications Magazine

November/December 2016

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GMC

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Circulation ManagerElizabeth George

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Editorial DirectorRichard [email protected]

Managing DirectorDavid [email protected] Contents

News review 4/5/8/15/24

Evolving tactical communications systems 6

The technology of war 10

Unlocking subsea communications 12

Q&A Inmarsat Global Government Solutions 16

Under vehicle surveillance system 20

Q&A Per Vices 22

New developments in antennas 26

Fibre-speed satellite comes to the battle edge 30

Detection, geolocation and resolution of L-band radarrebroadcast interference 34

If you would like to supply information for future issues of GMC pleasecontact Amy Saunders, Editor.

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Rheinmetall wins euros 135 millionorder for survivability upgrades ofFuchs/Fox armoured transportvehicle

Photo courtesy Rheinmetall

TACMS missilerepeats success insecond flight testLockheed Martin has successfully tested asecond modernized Tactical Missile System(TACMS) missile in a flight at White SandsMissile Range, New Mexico. The test followsclosely behind the successful first flight ofa modernized TACMS in late October. Fivemore flight tests are planned in comingmonths for the modernized TACMSprogram.

Launched from a High Mobility ArtilleryRocket System (HIMARS) launcher at atarget approximately 85 kilometers away,the modernized TACMS precisely engagedand destroyed the target, demonstrating themissile’s Proximity Sensor Height of Burstenhancement. An additional feature of thenew modernized TACMS is the ability todeliver increased lethality againstimprecisely located targets.

“This second successful test in a rowfurther validates the capability enhance-ments we are making to the TACMS round,”said Scott Greene, Vice President ofPrecision Fires/Combat Maneuver Systemsat Lockheed Martin Missiles and FireControl. “We are absolutely confident thatwhen called upon, these modernizedTACMS will provide an unmatched level ofprecision and lethality to our warfighters.”

As part of the US Army’s TACMS ServiceLife Extension Program inventoryrefurbishment effort, the modernized missileincludes new state-of-the-art guidanceelectronics and added capability to defeatarea targets without leaving behindunexploded ordnance. The TACMSmodernization process disassembles anddemilitarizes TACMS Block 1 and 1Asubmunition warheads, which do not complywith the Convention on Cluster Munitionsof 2008, replacing them with new unitarywarheads.

The modernization process also resetsthe missile’s 10+ year shelf life.

In December of 2014, Lockheed Martinand the US Army signed a $74 millioncontract to take existing TACMS missilesfrom inventory and modernize them. Themissile was produced at Lockheed Martin’sPrecision Fires Production Center ofExcellence in Camden, Arkansas.

The TACMS platform provides flexibilityto quickly integrate novel payloads and newcapabilities, meeting future demands nowas required by the warfighter.

With unsurpassed performance and anunwavering commitment to productionexcellence, TACMS is the only long-rangetactical surface-to-surface missile everemployed by the US Army in combat.TACMS missiles can be fired from the entirefamily of MLRS launchers. GMC

GMC

The Düsseldorf-based tech enterprise Rheinmetall AG has won a major follow-on order from the German Bundeswehr.

Under the contract, Rheinmetall will modernize ninety of the Bundeswehr’slong serving Fuchs/Fox armoured transport vehicles, significantly enhancing theiroverall performance level. The order is worth around euros 135 million (includingvalue added tax). Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment,Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) in Koblenz awardedRheinmetall the contract following a decision by the budget committee of theGerman Parliament to make the necessary funds available. Delivery of the vehiclesis slated to start in 2017 and end in 2020.

In recent years Rheinmetall has already upgraded 177 Bundeswehr Fuchs/Fox vehicles to the latest 1A8 standard. Compared with previous versions, the1A8 offers substantially greater resistance to landmines and improvised explosivedevices, coupled with improved protection against ballistic threats.

The Fuchs/Fox armoured transport vehicle first entered service in the 1970s.With some 1,200 in service worldwide, it has won a well-earned reputation fordependability and off-road mobility, making it one of the most valued and versatilevehicles in the German inventory. It is currently being used in a number ofinternational operations: MINUSMA in Mali, Resolute Support in Afghanistanand KFOR in Kosovo. The current upgrade will significantly expand the operationalscope of these vehicles, whose many variants continue to make themindispensable for current and future Bundeswehr operations. The crew will benefitfrom improved survivability and various new technical features.

The current order underscores once again Rheinmetall’s role as a premiumsupplier of army equipment and one of the world’s foremost producers of militaryvehicles, making it a trusted partner of the Bundeswehr and the armed forces ofnumerous nations around the globe.

The Bundeswehr has already fielded multiple variants of the 1A8, includingmobile command post and armoured personnel carrier versions, a fieldambulance, an EOD vehicle as well as an NBC detection variant and the RouteClearing Package (RCP) operator vehicle used for neutralizing mines andimprovised explosive devices.

Additional Fuchs/Fox armoured transport vehicles will now be reconfiguredfor command, APC and EOD roles, with an option for Joint Fire SupportCoordination Team vehicles. This will bring the total number of 1A8 Fuchs/Foxvehicles deployed by the Bundeswehr to 267. Among the principal modificationscharacterizing the Fuchs/Fox 1A8 armoured transport vehicle are: structuralalteration of the hull; new seats and suspended seating in the fighting compartmentto keep soldiers’ feet safely off the floor of the hull; reinforcement of the wheelhousings, doors and window mountings; and additional storage bins andreinforcement of the vehicle exterior.




Rockwell Collins has been named America’s Most JUST Company in the Aerospace & Defense industry, according to JUSTCapital and Forbes magazine’s inaugural “JUST 100 List,” which for the first time ranks the publicly traded companies in theUS that perform best on the things Americans care most about. The rankings are based on one of the largest surveys everconducted on attitudes towards corporate behavior, involving 50,000 Americans over the last 18 months. This year’s listranks US companies against their peers within 32 major industries. In future years, Forbes and JUST Capital will rankcompanies across industries.

BAE Systems has rolled out the first of 16 Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 1.1 prototypes to the US Marine Corps in a ceremonyat the company’s York, Pennsylvania facility. BAE Systems’ ACV 1.1 offering is a fully amphibious, ship-launchable and ship-recoverable 8×8 wheeled combat vehicle.

“BAE Systems has a long-standing legacy of supporting the Marine Corps’ amphibious mission,” said John Swift, the company’sDirector for the ACV 1.1 program. “That expertise, coupled with the hard work of our dedicated ACV team, has allowed us to deliverthe first of these vehicles ahead of schedule.”

BAE Systems’ solution for ACV 1.1 leverages an existing platform provided by Iveco Defence Vehicles. It is highly effective atsea when compared to any other amphibious vehicle in production today, providing superior land mobility and state-of-the-artsystems survivability.

“As the Marine Corps begins testing we are confident that the capabilities of these vehicles will be proven,” Swift said.The BAE Systems solution balances the Marine Corps’ demands for an affordable, production-ready platform with added

designs for increased force protection, water and land mobility, lethality, transportability, and survivability.BAE Systems’ ACV 1.1 is equipped with a robust 700HP engine, providing a significant power increase over the Assault

Amphibious Vehicle currently operated by the Marine Corps. The vehicle excels in all-terrain mobility and has a suspended interiorseat structure for 13 embarked Marines, blast protected positions for an additional crew of three, and improved survivability andforce protection over currently fielded systems.

The Marine Corps awarded BAE Systems a $103.7 million contract for the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Development(EMD) phase of the ACV 1.1 program in November 2015, one of two EMD contracts issued. During this phase, the company isproducing 16 prototypes that will be tested by the Marine Corps starting in the first quarter of 2017.

BAE Systems has long been a trusted supplier to the Marine Corps across multiple domains and has more than 70 years ofexperience designing and building amphibious vehicles. The company is also a leading provider of combat vehicles, havingproduced more than 100,000 systems for customers worldwide. Iveco Defence Vehicles brings additional proven experience,having designed and built more than 30,000 multi-purpose, protected, and armored military vehicles in service today. GMC

BAE Systems rolls out first Amphibious Combat Vehicle 1.1to US Marine Corps

http://bit.ly/28ViDgT



Evolving tactical communications systemsAccess to reliable communications are taken for granted by the general public today, as we have become so accustomedto being able to make a phone call or send an email at the drop of a hat that we don’t even think about it anymore.However, when it comes to military operations, every single communication system must be closely scrutinised toensure that the best-possible security is in place. Nowhere is this truer than on the battlefield, particularly the beachhead,where secure communications save lives and help achieve vital missions.

Photo courtesy Dvids/Lance Cpl. Sean Evans, III Marine Expeditionary Force

The original definition of a beachhead was ‘A defendedposition on a beach taken from the enemy by landing forces,from which an attack can be launched,’ but today the definitionhas been extended to any secure initial foothold in enemyterritory. The formation of a beachhead is a vital early tacticalstep in any military operation, and having reliable, securecommunications, both between soldiers and officers on site andwith decision-makers at remote headquarters, can make all thedifference in establishing and securing a strong foothold.

According to ‘The Military Communications Market: 2015-2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts,’ thetrend towards network centric warfare and the unstablegeopolitical landscape is continuing to drive militarycommunications spending despite pressures on budgetexpenditure at organisations around the world. More than US$40billion of revenues in military communications are expected tobe generated by the end of 2020. Meanwhile, more than 100petabytes of data were routed for military communicationssystems every day in 2015, and this is only expected to grow inthe years to come. The report cites the rise in wearabletechnology, M2M and sensor networks as a major source ofgrowth during the time period, with augmented reality expectedto play a key role.

Indeed, following six consecutive years of spending cuts,Western European governments increased their militaryspending by more than one percent in 2016 in light of thecontinually-developing threats to domestic security. Accordingto Fenella McGerty, Principle Analyst at HIS, communicationspending has become a key focus: "As the extent of IslamicState networks across Western Europe continues to reveal itself,coordination between European security agencies has becomeof paramount concern and the need to secure military

communications remains a key challenge.”

Continuously evolving solutionsBattlefield communications have come a long way in the lasthundred years, developing from hand signals and shouts, humanmessengers and basic radios, through to the highly-advancednetworks we have in place today. Indeed, with securecommunications such a vital part of all military operations,commercial and government entities alike are always workingto improve the available solutions.

One of the most widely-used communications systems forbattlefield operations today are VSAT networks. With only a smallamount of on-site equipment required, VSAT networks enablemobile, secure, real-time information relays via satellite overcommercial or government frequencies, or indeed a combinationof both. As the technology has evolved over the years, satelliteantennas, modems, and other related equipment have becomesmaller, more lightweight, and more mobile, meeting the idealsize, weight and power (SWaP) requirements to satisfy militaryuser demands. Inmarsat Global Government, ViaSat, HughesGovernment Solutions, Harris CapRock and Newtec are all majorplayers in the field of VSAT service solutions, providingincreasingly-high specification offerings to an extremelycompetitive and fast-moving market.

Cognitive radios are another vital component in many militaryoperations, enabling soldiers to securely communicate underall kinds of battlefield conditions, such as when securing abeachhead. Unlike conventional military radios, and a stepbeyond software-defined radios (SDRs), cognitive radios aresufficiently computationally intelligent regarding radio resourcesand computer-to-computer communications to detect and acton user needs. Most cognitive radios on the market today can




Photo courtesy Dvids/Lance Cpl. Sean Evans

identify potential interference, path loss, shadowing andmultipath fading that might impair the use of a particularfrequency. These capabilities enable highly secure andextremely efficient military communications, even under harshconditions, or in contested and/or congested environments. xGTechnology, ASELSAN and Per Vices are all working today toevolve cognitive radios to their next logical iteration.

New, ground-breaking solutions are always evolving. TheUS Army, in particular, has invested heavily in research forreliable, highly-secure communications options, whileuniversities around the world continue to test what is possiblewithin the realms of science.

Next-generation soldier-to-soldier communications3D printing is one of the key emerging technologies today, andit has not gone unnoticed by the military sector. Various groupshave explored 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, for theproduction of food, replacement limbs and bones, battle armour,antennas, drones and ballistic missiles. Only recently, however,has the concept of using 3D printing for communications,specifically for brain-to-computer interfaces, or synthetictelepathy, been raised by scientists.

Synthetic telepathy has been studied for several years now.In 2014, the US Army Research Office co-funded research atthe University of Washington which successfully demonstratedthe use of one person’s brain signals to control the hand ofanother person. Electroencephalography (EEG) recorded thebrain signals and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)delivered those signals to the second subject’s brain.

Long-range synthetic telepathy could open up incredible newcommunications options for soldiers in the field, with applicationsranging from securing a beachhead, to undertaking covertmissions. The ability to communicate via thought would speedup decision-making and action-taking, improving the chance ofmission success. It would also take some time for hostile groupsto establish technology capable of hacking these synthetictelepathic communications, if it is possible at all.

In September 2016, at the Intelligence and National SecurityAlliance Summit, the potential for 3D printing for militarypurposes was a major topic of discussion. The PrincipleInvestigator for Materials and Technology Development inAdditive Manufacturing at the US Army Research Laboratory(ARL), Larry Holmes, raised the prospect that 3D printing mightplay a future role in advancing biometric communication.

Holmes cited a 2008, US$4 million research project onsynthetic telepathy at Carnegie Mellon University, the Universityof Maryland and UC Irvine. The researchers used a sensor todetect the brain’s electromagnetic pulses and translate theminto a base level of communication, which would then be sentto another person by TMS. According to Holmes, 3D printingcould advance this research by producing helmets embeddedwith EEG technology.

“Imagine if I have a helmet. You can put it in this 3D printingmachine, tell this machine to scan it, then go back and say, ‘Oh,this mission requires some communication device I don’t have.’I can tell the printer to rebuild this helmet and incorporate thedevice into this helmet as I’m building it, antennas, structuredsensors, whatever,” said Holmes.

Thus, not only would the military benefit from the enhancedcommunications capabilities, but it would also be able to producesuch devices as needed in the field, in case of inadequate supplyor damage to one or more units. While research to date on both3D printing and synthetic telepathy is promising, it is challengingfor 3D printed items to meet the rigorous military manufacturingspecifications. As such, most 3D printing for military applicationsto date have been within the special operations community.

Hack-proof quantum communicationsQuantum communications have recently grabbed the attentionof the communications industry and the world’s media thanksto the launch of the world’s first satellite dedicated to quantum

experiments in August 2016, the Quantum Experiments at SpaceScale (QUESS) satellite.

Quantum communications were formally restricted to theworld of science fiction, but this is about to change. Quantumparticles can be transmitted over reasonable distances on Earth,and, according to theory, much greater distances in space.Theory states that information encoded in a quantum particle issecure against any computerised hacking because theinformation would be destroyed as soon as it was measured.Indeed, the only way to observe the photon is for it to interactwith an electron or an electromagnetic field, both of which wouldcause the photon to decohere, or interfere with it in a way thatwould only be apparent to the intended recipient in possessionof the encryption key. The Co-Founder of ID Quantique, GreoirRibordy, said that a quantum communication was like a bubble:“If someone tries to intercept it when it’s being transmitted, bytouching it, they make it burst.”

The advantages that quantum communications could provideto the military are clear. Decision-makers at headquarters wouldbe able to swiftly give orders to soldiers at the beachhead or onthe battlefield with no concern about the information beingaccessed by unwanted personnel. Likewise, data from the fieldcould be securely relayed back to headquarters for analysis,without enemy interference.

China’s QUESS satellite, a first-of-its-kind craft that scientistshope will enable hack-proof quantum communications, waslaunched in August 2016. The spacecraft was developed by theChinese Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Academy ofSciences. Its main payload is a Sagnac interferometer thatgenerates two entangled infrared photos by shining a UV laseron a non-linear optical crystal.

QUESS will test quantum communications capabilitiesbetween Earth and space, and test quantum entanglement overunprecedented distances, during its two years of operation. Whilephysicists have successfully separated entangled photons bydistances up to 300km on Earth, because they scatter whenthey travel through optical fibres and are subject to atmosphericturbulence when sent between telescopes, it is challenging tosend entangled photons longer distances. In space, however,these interferences are removed.

To test whether quantum communications could provide aviable, global communications option, a number of quantumcommunications transmissions will take place between QUESSand various Earth stations, including the Xinjiang Astronomical




Photo courtesy Dvids/Lance Cpl. Sean Evans

Observatory in western China, the Xinglong Observatory inYanshan, and, eventually, a site in Vienna. QUESS will alsoquantum teleport a photon state from the Ali Observatory inTibet to the satellite.

According to Jianwei Pan, QUESS’s Chief Scientist at theUniversity of Science and Technology of China, the ability ofthe ground stations to perfectly track the satellite, which istravelling at 8km/s, is a major challenge. "It's very challengingto create a perfect quantum channel between the satellite andthe ground station," said Pan. "We have developed a high-frequency and high-accuracy acquiring, pointing and trackingtechnique to do that."

If the experiments are successful, China plans to launch anumber of similar satellites to form a quantum communicationsnetwork by 2030.

The future is hereIt’s obvious that today’s battlefield communications systems arein a major state of flux. The new generation of high throughoutsatellites (HTS) are making it increasingly affordable for militarygroups to take full advantage of satellite communicationsoptions, while advancements in technology are makinginnovative new ideas a possibility. GMC

Germany receives firsttactical standard AirbusA400M airlifterAirbus Defence and Space has delivered to the German AirForce its first A400M transport aircraft qualified for tacticaloperations and able to fly in areas subject to military threats.

The aircraft is the sixth A400M in German service andthe first with the new capabilities in addition to the world-leading performance of all A400Ms as strategic transports.All aircraft will be retrofitted to the new standard and receivesubsequent enhancements as those are certified.

Key aspects of the aircraft’s latest capabilities areimprovements in its self-defence systems, ability to air-dropcargo loads, and paratrooping. Additionally it can operateon unprepared runways, fly as low as 150ft above theground, refuel other aircraft as a tanker, and safely take-offand land in extremely high temperatures.

Airbus Defence and Space A400M ProgrammeManager, Kurt Rossner, said: “The A400M programme hasmade enormous progress this year in implementing thesecritical capabilities on the aircraft. In addition to having twicethe payload-range of the legacy transports like the C-160and C-130 that it is replacing, it can now also operate fromany runway that those older aircraft could use. There is noother aircraft in the market with the A400M´s combinationof tactical and strategic capabilities and it is going totransform Germany’s air mobility force.”

The new aircraft is fitted with a Defensive Aids Sub-System (DASS) incorporating a Missile Warning System,Radar Warning Receiver, and an Expendables DispensingSystem to eject flares and radar-confusing chaff. The DASSfor all A400Ms is integrated by Airbus Defence and Spaceat Ulm.

Military and humanitarian loads of up to eight tonneseach, including for example 24 x 1 tonne pallets, are fullycertified for air-dropping from the aircraft’s ramp and furtherloads are being continually qualified in flight test.

Paratroops can be dropped from the ramp or sideparatroop doors in sticks of up to 20, and sticks of 30 havealready been successfully demonstrated with certificationto follow. Flight testing continues to build the numbers nextto 40 and then 58 in a single pass.

The A400M is certified to operate from grass runwaysand has successfully completed testing of operations fromgravel and sandy soil with certification in process. Low-levelflight in mountainous terrain is cleared down to 150ft aboveground by day and 300ft by night under the pilot’s manualcontrol. Development of automatic low-level flight is welladvanced.

The aircraft is certified to receive fuel in-flight from atanker, and as a tactical tanker itself to refuel fighters andother large aircraft by day, with night operationsdemonstrated and close to certification.

In this latest configuration the A400M is certified tooperate in temperatures up to 55°C at sea level, ensuringexcellent “hot and high” performance at operationallychallenging airfields around the world. And it is approved totake-off and fly on only three of its four powerful engines inthe event of a mechanical problem or battle damage, addingto its outstanding level of operating autonomy. GMC

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The Technology of War: The advantages of anetwork-centric approach to modern warfare

Diagram courtesy of Rajant

Network-centric warfare provides military operations with information superiority – but it doesn’t work without a battle-ready wireless communication system. Barry McElroy is Vice President of Rajant explains.

While the reasons we go to war – land, religion, retribution,resources – have not changed much over the millennia, warfareitself has changed dramatically, especially in recent decades.

No longer is a battle a linear operation with clearly definedlines and trained soldiers in uniform firing artillery at each other,as it was for much of the 20th century. To fight a war in the 21stcentury means fighting an enemy who is everywhere andnowhere at the same time, who has not been trained in battleformations or military strategy, who does not wear a uniform oruse WoRm formulas to calculate where to fire.

There are no battle lines – anywhere in a targeted countryis a free fire zone, and the enemy is constantly moving andchanging where they attack from. There is no symmetry – asolitary person can destroy a group of soldiers and their vehiclesusing an improvised explosive device (IED) or rocket.

Twenty-first century warfare requires that soldiers areconstantly on their guard and ready to fight – and this need foralways-on preparedness has changed the way the militarycollects and uses intelligence, giving rise to what’s called“network-centric warfare”: the use of networked technology toprovide advantages on the battlefield.

The benefits of the network-centric approachA network-centric approach to warfare links all military assetsto each other and to decision makers via computer, radio anddata networks, enhancing the way military objectives are

accomplished because of information superiority: According toDavid S. Alberts, who formerly worked in the office of theAssistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and InformationIntegration, “A robustly networked force improves informationsharing. Information sharing and collaboration enhance thequality of information and shared situational awareness. Sharedsituational awareness enables self-synchronization. These, inturn, dramatically increase mission effectiveness.”

A Department of Defense text adds that while war will alwaysbe characterized by “fog, friction, complexity and irrationality,”network-centric operations provide increased awareness andmore informed decision making: “… Having a better near real-time picture of what is happening … certainly reducesuncertainty in a meaningful way.”

This method requires a powerful communications network,however. A true military-grade network must provide continuouscommunication to in-motion and stationary personnel, vehiclesand equipment, giving commanders and troops always-connected, secure access to applications and information – thusimproving situational awareness and mission effectiveness.There is no room for security breaches or outages of any kindwhen it can mean the difference between life and death, or awar won or lost.

Communications have sometimes been a weak link betweenthe various moving parts of the armed forces, whether betweenground, airborne and seaborne forces, or between forces and




non-aligned units such as foreign coalitions or sister serviceswithin the Department of Defense. However, this has beenchanging in recent years as military operations and projectshave begun utilizing a network called kinetic mesh.

Kinetic mesh on the battlefieldA kinetic mesh network combines wireless network nodes andnetworking software. It employs multiple radio frequencies andany-node-to-any-node capabilities to instantaneously route datavia the best available traffic path and frequency, with up to 300Mbps transfer rates.

If a certain path becomes unavailable for any reason – dueto antenna failure, for example – nodes on the network use analternate route to deliver the data, eliminating any gaps incommunication and allowing on-the-fly transmission of voice,video and data to provide situational awareness, despiteconditions that would cripple other networks. Routes are builtautomatically, and are evaluated for quality and performancefor every sent and received packet.

There is no central control node and no single points offailure. These self-healing, peer-to-peer networks support Wi-Fi, integrate easily with Ethernet-connected devices and scaleto hundreds of high-bandwidth nodes – in fact, the more nodesadded, the more pathways are established and the more resilienta network becomes.

The nodes self-configure, making it simple to expand thenetwork, and are built to withstand hostile environments likebattlefields. Each node serves as a singular infrastructure, whichenables everything within the network to be mobile: wirelessnodes can move, clients can move, network traffic can move –all in real time and without manual intervention.

A Kinetic mesh network can be easily redeployed andexpanded in multiple ways, and still operates with the samelevel of reliability, even in the harshest conditions. It eliminatesthe challenges of time-consuming, complicated deployments inthe midst of battlefield pressures, challenging terrain andchanging operations: All a soldier has to do is hit a power buttonon the radio, and the radio immediately connects to the networkand is up and running. A soldier doesn’t need extensive trainingto learn how to set up a radio, and a company no longer needsto lay new cable every time its headquarters moves, whichrequires man-hours and taxpayer dollars.

Not to be overlooked is the network’s military-grade level ofsecurity (with some radios certified to “Secret and Below”interoperability). Kinetic mesh delivers end-to-end, 256-bitencryption. When encrypted information flows through the meshand comes out another node, it stays encrypted all the waythrough, and is not decrypted until it is delivered to its finaldestination, ensuring privacy. At each hop in the network, kineticmesh provides a per-hop authentication for each packet.Metadata also is encrypted; an attacker cannot analyze the trafficand see which nodes are communicating with other devices –which, in a battlefield situation, could give away position.

Kinetic mesh in actionKinetic mesh has been a part of several military programs andprojects, including:

C-RAM: The C-RAM program is a “system of systems” thatprimarily uses radar to detect incoming projectiles (rockets,artillery and mortars) fired from hostile forces. An engagementweapon then attempts to intercept the projectile and destroy itin flight before it impacts.

There also is a warning component; once the radar hasdetermined the trajectory of the projectile, it can determine whatkind of shell or projectile it is, as well as estimated point of impact,to determine the blast radius. It then can send an alert to theaffected area, instructing all personnel to seek cover. A soldierhas about 10 seconds to find cover before detonation if theprojectile is not intercepted in flight – which does not sound likea lot of time, but can mean the difference between life and death.

The C-RAM program was an important counter measure to

enemy fire during the wars in Iraq, where the way the enemyfought made it impossible for troops to deploy counter fire –because there was simply no one to fire at. Instead, the enemywould set up crude stands with rockets on top and use atriggering device to deploy the rockets from afar. It was by nomeans a scientific method of warfare, but it was intermittentlyeffective, killing or injuring soldiers and disabling military assets.

For the past five years, kinetic mesh has provided thecommunications link between the radars and the commandcenter, and the warning towers and the command center. Beforekinetic mesh radios were implemented, there was a much higherrate of interference between the various components and theradios, creating gaps in communications. With kinetic meshradios, system availability rate has increased significantly –meaning even more human lives will be saved in current andfuture field operations.

Soldier Link: Soldier Link is a communications network thatconnects all military personnel from the lowest link – theindividual soldier – up to national command. It is intended toprovide and distribute situational awareness communications,including position locator information for soldiers and vehicles.Kinetic mesh radios will provide plug-and-play Ethernetconnections with IP-based devices for company-level and belowsoldiers. (Soldier Link has been developed and is beingevaluated and tested.)

Wolfhound: Wolfhound is a man-portable electronic warfareand cyber capability supporting kinetic operations in OperationEnduring Freedom. The system includes three networked, man-packable nodes capable of detecting, identifying and direction-finding conventional communications. It targets Very HighFrequency (VHF) or Ultra High Frequency (UHF), push-to-talk,handheld radio communications, and is a counter-IED program.

The use of IEDs is an example of the unconventional militarytactics seen in the asymmetrical warfare of the late 20th andearly 21st centuries: By burying artillery shells strategically inroads and other areas where troops traveled, an enemy caninjure or kill soldiers and damage military assets – all withoutneeding to take aim or even remain in the area.

IEDs were used extensively against US-led forces in Iraqand were responsible for nearly 2,000 deaths between July 2003and January 2009. Since Wolfhound’s inception, however, theprogram has prevented the detonation of more than 1,000 would-be IEDs and is expected to save many more lives in the future.

The need for real-time communications in modern warfareTechnology is constantly changing everything we do. RayKurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns avows that the rate ofchange in systems – including technology – increasesexponentially, not linearly, meaning that each advance doublesthe rate of the next: “30 steps linearly gets you to 30. One, two,three, four, step 30, you're at 30. With exponential growth, it'sone, two, four, eight. Step 30, you're at a billion.”

If this theory holds true, we will continue to see lightning-fast technological progress across every part of our lives –including the way we conduct combat operations. As warfarebecomes more unpredictable and asymmetrical, a network-centric approach will be ever more critical – without real-timecommunications enabling information superiority, all the artilleryin the world won’t make a difference. Kinetic mesh networksprovide the mobility, reliability, scalability, security and highbandwidth needed to ensure mission-critical intelligence is sentand received in real time, breaking new ground in wartimecommunications and helping to save lives. GMC

“No longer is a battle a linear operationwith clearly defined lines and trained

soldiers in uniform firing artillery at eachother, as it was for much of the 20th

century.”




Unlocking subsea communicationsDefence forces the world over know that oceanic capabilities make up an integral role of any military presence. To makean all-encompassing force, aerial, surface and subsea vessels must work together to provide complimentary capabilities.However, while aerial and surface communications systems can be reliably served via satellite, subsea communicationsoptions are significantly more complex. A variety of solutions are available today, but with growing unrest in certainworld regions, particularly at sea, more and more systems are being rapidly developed.

Photo courtesy Dvids/Petty Officer 3rd Class Jumar Balacy

Subsea communications systems play an important role ina number of sectors, including but not limited to defence forces,governments, oil and gas, scientific research, and the maritimeindustry. However, subsea communications systems are muchmore complex than their above-water analogues, since waterand unknown obstacles distort wireless transmissions, reducingtheir effectiveness. Fibre-optic, ocean-bottom cable systems areone widely-adopted option, however, they take a long time toinstall and are more expensive than wireless options, in additionto having their own technical limitations including noiseinterference and higher power consumption.

Today’s subsea wireless communications options include:

• Radio frequency (RF);• Acoustic;• Free space optical (FSO); and• Hybrid (iterations of the above three).

Each solution has its own strengths and limitations, includingeffective range, bandwidth, data rate, immunity from noise, EMIor turbidity, and power requirements. Given the limited optionsavailable and the challenges and limitations of each, moreeffective solutions are still being developed today.

Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs)Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) have been utilised bythe military for some time, and are becoming increasinglypopular in the commercial and scientific subsea explorationfields.

They have a number of key advantages over manned subseavehicles, including reduced risk to staff, reduced personnel

costs, and providing access to new territories.UUVs fall into two categories:

• Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs): Controlledby a remote human operator.

• Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs): Operateindependently of direct human input.

Both ROVs and AUVs can be used for search andreconnaissance, to inspect underwater infrastructure, take watersamples, assist with oil and gas exploration, create bathymetricmaps of the ocean floor, and map marine life.

According to Markets and Markets, AUV development is aheavy focus within the military, while commercial companiesand scientific institutions are more interested in ROVs. Indeed,AUVs have been put to excellent use detecting and terminatingsubsea mines, and in future might be used as weaponsplatforms.

Irrelevant of their application, all UUVs must be able to relaydata to and from a manned headquarter for decision-making.Some underwater vehicles come close to the surface of theocean, where they deploy long antennas capable of data relayover satellite, however, this is a relatively slow solution. Whilethe unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market is booming right nowfor both military and commercial applications, the lack of effectivecommunications systems is putting a dampener on the UUVmarket.

This is a significant problem, as UUVs capable of seamlesscommunications with manned and unmanned subsea, surfaceand aerial vessels could provide a key strategic advantage formilitary operations.




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Innovative subsea communications solutionsIn order to make UUVs a more viable solution for militaryapplications, several companies are developing their ownstandalone communications systems to bridge the gap betweensubsea, surface and aerial vehicles.

Liquid Robotics has presented one solution to the UUVcommunications challenge, which was initially developed in 2007to listen to whale songs. The Wave Glider, an unmanned surfacevehicle (USV) that floats on the surface of the ocean, uses solarand wave power to propel itself for up to one year. Its sensorcomputer connects a surface radio modem and antenna withan underwater acoustic modem, enabling rapid two-waycommunications.

In 2014, Liquid Robotics and Boeing partnered to develop amilitary-grade version called the Sensor Hosting AutonomousRemote Craft (SHARC), which combines the Wave Gliderplatform with Boeing’s sensor technology. Boeing is working withthe Navy’s research lab to develop additional capabilities forSHARC as it sees the platform as a potential communicationconduit between UUVs, aircraft, ships and satellites.

“Ultimately, it is a more efficient and effective way to domaritime surveillance, we think, in large ocean areas,” said EganGreenstein, Senior Director of Autonomous Maritime Systemsat Boeing.

AeroVironment has also developed a standalone subseacommunications system called Blackwing. The Blackwingsystem is a small, tube-launched unmanned aircraft that canbe deployed from underwater vehicles, as well as surface andland vehicles. It uses an advanced, miniature electro-optical andinfrared (EO/IR) payload, Selective Availability Anti-SpoofingModule (SASSM) GPS and AeroVironment’s Secure Digital DataLink (DDL). It was developed as part of a 2013 Navy and USSpecial Operations Command (USSOCOM) joint capabilitytechnology demonstration known as ‘Advanced WeaponsEnhanced by Submarine against Mobile Targets (AWESUM),’and was completed late in 2015.

“AeroVironment’s new Blackwing unmanned aircraft systemis a valuable new capability that resulted from our team’s closecollaboration with, and responsiveness to, the US Navy’sundersea warfare community and the Special Operationscommunity,” said Kirk Flittie, AeroVironment’s Vice President andGeneral manager of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems business

segment. “In addition to operating from undersea vehicles,Blackwing can also be integrated with and deployed from a widevariety of surface vessels and mobile ground vehicles to providerapid response reconnaissance capabilities that help ourcustomers operate more safely and effectively.”

In August 2016 at the Annual Naval Technology Exercise(ANTX), the US Navy successfully demonstrated the submarinelaunch of the Blackwing system and its link with a swarm ofUUVs and communication with the submarine combat controlsystem. As well as providing intelligence, surveillance andreconnaissance to submarine commanders, Blackwing alsoprovided a high-speed data and communication relay forCommand and Control between geographically separatedsubsea vessels and surface ships. During the exercise, the DDLrelayed real-time information from a manned submarine viaBlackwing to and from multiple UUVs.

Military groups are also investing in new designs andinnovations under development by small companies and start-ups. In October 2016, the US Navy announced plans to awarda three-phase small business innovative research (SBIR) dealto Hydronalix. The deal would see Hydronalix upgrade its microUSV technology and integrate it with existing subsea acousticcommunications technology, enabling situational awareness anddata relay capabilities.

A small USV would be adapted to function as a mobilegateway buoy to support Fifth Fleet operations, acting as acommunications node in a subsea network to help protectmanned Navy rigid-hull inflatable boats operating in the PersianGulf. These boats monitor port operations and perform vehicleinspections, among other tasks. The solution is expected toreduce the need for other Navy boats and aircraft to protect theships, while enabling more missions to be carried out duringbad weather or engagement limitations.

Ultimately, Navy researchers plan to create a field-deployablesystem to enable Fifth Fleet explosive ordnance disposal forcesto communicate remotely and track UUVs involved in locatingand destroying enemy mines.

Hybrid UUV solutionsIn an alternative route to the standalone systems discussedabove, new subsea manned and unmanned vehicles are beingdeveloped with integrated systems capable of communicatingwith surface and aerial assets.

In March 2016, Boeing unveiled the Boeing Echo Voyager,a 51 foot, 50t hybrid UUV, designed to undertake surveillanceand reconnaissance missions for defence, commercial andscientific customers for days, weeks or even months. The UUVwas expected to begin trials off the coast of California in thesummer, although no updates have been posted.

Unlike other UUVs, the Echo Voyager runs off of batteriesthat it recharges with a diesel generator just below the surfaceof the ocean, instead of recharging at a nearby ship. While nearthe surface, it can connect with satellites for data relays withoutthe need for a companion vessel. The Echo Voyager can alsocommunicate with nearby ships while still submerged, offeringa more functional solution than typical UUVs that surface forthe sole purpose of data relays.

“What we came up with Echo Voyager, was a way to dothose same missions without the requirement of a surface shipfor the launch and recovery,” said Lance Towers, Director of theBoeing Phantom Works’ Sea & Land Division, which built theUUV. “Any of those missions can now be conducted at asignificantly lower cost with the advent of Echo Voyager.”

The Unmanned Warrior exerciseOne of the most efficient ways to advance technical capabilitieslike subsea communications systems it to invite commercialentities to demonstrate their capabilities at specifically-designedexercise events. Additionally, by encouraging commercial groupsto invest in research and development, military groups, oftenconstrained by financial budgets, can avoid some of the initial

Photo courtesy Dvids/Petty Officer 3rd ClassJumar Balacy




costs themselves.In September 2016 it was revealed that the UK Navy

undertook a two-week demonstrator mission run by the NationalOceanography Centre (NOC) involving seven submarine glidersand three Wave Gliders to collect environmental data in real-time. The demonstration came in preparation of the Royal Navy’sUnmanned Warrior exercise.

“This deployment will showcase the capabilities of marinerobots the Royal Navy, and other defence and industry partners,”said the NOC’s Russell Wynn, Chief Scientist for the mission.“The results will also inform the wider scientific community ofthese new technologies as an alternative to manned vessels,which are relatively expensive to operate and have a largerenvironmental impact.”

The Unmanned Warrior event took place in Scotland inOctober 2016 to demonstrate how unmanned systems andsensors might integrate into current and future militaryoperations. Approximately 50 aerial, surface and subseaautonomous systems were deployed for surveillance,intelligence gathering and mine warfare roles. Surface vesselswere used as communications links between subsea and aerialsystems, the aerial vessels acted as communications nodes toconnect robots with humans on the shore, while subsea vehicleshunted for mines.

Boeing’s advanced platform technology and sensors wereused with Insitu’s ScanEagle UAS, Schiebel’s CAMCOPTERS-100 UAS and Liquid Robotics’ SHARC USV in order to detect,classify and track potentially hostile surface and subsea targetsand to expand tactical intelligence available to decision-makers.In addition, Inmarsat, Cobham and Boeing provided highthroughput satellite (HTS) services to the Royal Navy to enablefull-motion video sharing and large file transfers around the‘battlefield’ quickly and efficiently.

“These systems can help protect our sailors and marinesfrom some of the Navy’s dull, dirty and dangerous missions,like mine countermeasures. Additionally, these systems canincrease our capabilities at a more affordable cost of theconventional systems we currently employ,” said Chief of NavalResearch, Rear Adm. Mat Winter. “Autonomy will enable ournaval forces to stay longer, see farther, understand more, decidefaster, do more, adapt more quickly and, when necessary, bemore lethal.” GMC

Photo courtesy Dvids/Petty Officer 3rd ClassJumar Balacy

BAE Systems rolls outfirst armored multi-purpose vehicleBAE Systems has rolled out the first prototype ArmoredMulti-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) to the US Army during aceremony at the company’s York, Pennsylvania facility. TheAMPV provides the Army with enhanced mobility,survivability, force protection, and combat superiority.

“The AMPV prototype vehicles are the result of a highlycollaborative relationship between the Army and our industryteam,” said Beach Day, Program Director for AMPV at BAESystems Combat Vehicles. “Through this relationship, wehave been able to design a vehicle that provides a modern,robust solution that meets the needs of today’s soldier andof the future force.”

The AMPV is a fully modern, highly flexible vehicle thatincludes five variants and is designed to replace the VietnamWar-era M113 family of vehicles. It is a mature, cost-effectivesolution that leverages proven Bradley Infantry FightingVehicle and M109A7 Self-Propelled Howitzer designs. Itmeets the Army’s force protection and all-terrain mobilityrequirements that enable the AMPV to maneuver with therest of the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT).Maximizing commonality within the ABCT reducesdevelopmental risk and provides significant cost savings tothe Army. In December 2014, BAE Systems was awarded acontract worth up to $1.2 billion from the Army for theEngineering, Manufacturing, and Development (EMD) andLow-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phases of the AMPVprogram. The initial award of $383 million, under the EMDphase, is for development and production of 29 vehiclesacross all of the variants: general purpose, missioncommand, mortar carrier, medical evacuation, and medicaltreatment.

The ceremony commemorated the rollout of the first ofthe general purpose variant. Deliveries of the prototypevehicles will continue into 2017, and developmental testingwill run through 2018. GMC

armasuisse renews itstrust in ThalesThales has been selected by armasuisse for thestandardisation of the Full Flight Mission Simulator (FFMS)for the AS532 Super-Puma transport helicopter. Functionalupgrades will also be made to the multi-purpose twin-engined EC635 military helicopter.

The standardisation of the AS532 Super-Puma Full FlightMission Simulator includes the upgrading of the primary flightavionics, radiocommunications, the digital map, the forward-looking infrared imagery and the helmet-mounted display.Functional improvements will also be made to bothsimulators, in particular on the instructor station. All of theseupdates will be delivered to the Swiss Air Force in September2017. These Thales flight simulators, used by the Swiss AirForce since 2012, meet the Swiss Air Force’s specific pilotinstruction and training requirements, improve operationaleffectiveness, raise levels of crew and operator safety andreduce environmental impacts. The interconnection betweenthese two simulators provides pilots with unlimited scopefor training exercises involving formation flying and tacticaloperations. GMC




Todd McDonell, Inmarsat’s VicePresident of Global GovernmentSolutions

Reliability and security arecrucially importantInmarsat was established in 1979 by the International MaritimeOrganisation (IMO) to ensure that ships at sea could stay in constantcontact with on-shore personnel. The company has expanded significantlyover the years, and now includes five business units: Inmarsat GlobalGovernment, Inmarsat US Government, Inmarsat Enterprise, InmarsatAviation and Inmarsat Maritime. It provides services to the government,broadcast, telecommunications, aviation, maritime, oil and gas industries,among others, via its twelve-satellite fleet. Amy Saunders spoke with ToddMcDonell, Inmarsat’s Vice President of Global Government Solutions, tolearn more about Inmarsat Global Government’s services, recent marketdevelopments and opportunities for the future.

GMCQ&A

Photo courtesy of Inmarsat Global Government Solutions

Inmarsat has served the governmentsector for 35 years. Its Global Governmentbusiness unit meets the communicationsrequirements of civil government andmilitary customers in over 80 countries.With its regional specialists and sector-specific solutions, it connects those whoprotect.

Where government requirements forvoice, data and video services demandglobal availability and utmost reliability,Inmarsat delivers the world over.

Whether a military commander onoperations, a government officialresponding to a local emergency or a headof state conducting international affairs,Inmarsat provides them with essentialaccess to voice and broadband data,where and when they need it.

GMC: Can you provide an overview of Inmarsat Global Government’sdevelopment over the years through to where it stands today?Todd McDonell: In 2012, Inmarsat’s CEO, Rupert Pearce, created the businessunit structure to ensure that Inmarsat was vertically market focussed i.e. to lookat a dedicated way to meet the core needs of Inmarsat’s core markets. InmarsatGlobal Government was born to look specifically at government needs outsideof the specific requirements of the US government. As a result, we now serviceover 100 governments globally, providing solutions to deliver their operationalneeds in the air, on land and at sea.

GMC: What services and solutions does Inmarsat Global Governmentprovide, and to which markets?Todd McDonell: Inmarsat has developed a number of services that are applicableto both government and commercial markets, while the Global Governmentbusiness unit has developed a number of solutions specifically targeted towardsgovernment requirements. For example, the LTAC service that allows governmentusers to obtain coverage for their radio networks exponentially greater than whatcould be achieved using traditional radio repeaters.

In the aeronautical business, we have developed a very small satellite terminal,the Cobham Aviator UAV, to allow very small UAVs to operate beyond the line ofsite. This was developed in response to market forces, and the current operationaldevelopments in the government sector that see an increased reliance onunmanned assets.

In the maritime sector, we have worked with high-tech manufacturer EMSolutions to develop a maritime antenna called Cobra that allows governmentcustomers to access both military satellite systems and Inmarsat’s GX servicethrough a single terminal.

Whilst Inmarsat has been supporting defence forces for over 30 years, thepast few years has seen the company spread beyond the traditional geographies




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Photo courtesy of Inmarsat Global GovernmentSolutions

of mature defence forces such as NATO and Five Eyes nationsto a far wider reach – particularly in Asia, Latin America andAfrica. This expansion has gone beyond just geographic also.The Global Government team has seen an increaseddependency upon satcoms in the areas of disasterpreparedness, border protection, coast guard, emergencyservices, Head of State and VIP communications, foreign affairs,fisheries and environmental protection, to name a few keysectors.

As terminal sizes have decreased and capability increased,Inmarsat is increasingly seen as a way to boost operationalcapability whilst minimising costs.

GMC: Where does Inmarsat Global Government see itselfwithin the market compared to its competitors?Todd McDonell: Unlike many other satellite players, Inmarsatis a managed service provider. We look at getting the WHOLEnetwork to work optimally, rather than just the ground segmentor the satellite segment or the terminal segment.

When it comes to government customers – both reliabilityand security are crucially important, and our methodology ofproviding a complete managed service, backed up withInmarsat’s heritage of a secure, reliable, global network, ensuresa risk free and future-proof end-to-end experience.

GMC: How has the market changed in recent years, andwhere is there the most opportunity for growth?Todd McDonell: In recent times, governments have taken amore holistic approach to communications requirements.

Whereas in the past they may have been willing to talk to oneprovider for a maritime service and another for aero, for example,they now want to streamline into the one, interoperable solutionprovider. Another key change has been the increase inimportance of cyber security to government communicationssystems. Inmarsat has reacted to this by installing Mac 1 levelsecurity enclaves in its Earth station in support of governmentcustomers, as well as creating a dedicated high-level role,focused on cyber security that sits within the senior leadershipof Inmarsat plc.

On the domain side, the importance of having good qualityconnectivity with aeronautical assets has definitely become abuzzword for governments today, and we see this as great areafor growth. Cabin communications have gone from ‘nice to have’to ‘imperative’ and Inmarsat offers the perfect solution forgovernment aeronautical requirements – be they on manned orunmanned, fixed wing or rotary vessels.

Finally, we have witnessed an increasing reliance on coalitionoperations. The ability to help governments communicate andwork with each other in such operations is another key sectorfor growth in the government domain.

GMC: December 2015 saw the launch of Global Xpress,which provides the world’s first global Ka-band network,designed specifically for government customers. How hasuptake developed to date, and how is the network evolving?Todd McDonell: Despite the fact that the Pacific Ocean regionwas the last region to get X-band coverage, we have still seensignificant interest amongst governments in the Asia Pac region.Indeed, Australian Government departments have beenamongst Inmarsat’s earliest adopters of the technology.Interestingly, we have now had customers utilise GX across allthree domains: Air, land and sea. End user feedback is so positivethat operational crew have been known to complain if they areposted to an asset that does not have GX installed.

GMC: Inmarsat and EM Solutions partnered to develop theworld’s first MilSatCom/GX maritime terminal, which werelaunched in the summer of 2016: Can you comment on theproject’s progress?Todd McDonell: A number of the EM Solutions have now beenrolled out. The unique proposition of this terminal is that it givesthe customer the option to choose between a military bearerand a commercial bearer. The advantage therein is that thecommercial option can often be more available than dedicatedmilitary channels – providing flexibility in operationalenvironments.





Photo courtesy of Inmarsat Global Government Solutions

GMC: February 2016 saw the launch of the Cobham AviatorUAV terminal. What was Inmarsat’s involvement with theproject, and how does the new terminal compare to otherson the market?Todd McDonell: The project was a joint development. Inmarsatand Cobham aligned market research and development teamsto capture the market requirement. We had already togetheridentified a significant gap in the market. We aligned our businessdevelopment activities with a variety of target customers.Cobham shipped the first units for integration and testing towardsthe end of the August.

In essence, it's a completely different approach to theproblem. Being able to provide video from the system via H.264codecs initially and getting a level of performance acceptableto special users has been a real eye opener for us.

Due to the SWaP characteristics of the terminal, we canenable a capability to process real time video from longendurance drones where previously they would have to wait toend a 10hr+ mission before the video could be processed. Thisimmediacy means that operationally the end user is able to reactinstantly to threats, and to identify items of interest. It also carriesover into areas like pipeline monitoring by UAVs, enabling leaksor theft to be identified and dealt with in real time.

It is lighter, smaller and less complex than other comparableproducts available on the market. In simplistic terms, we tookthree separate pieces of equipment that form an aero terminaland made them into a single product. This SWaP approach alsomeant the power required was considerably less than oncompetitor products.

The Cobham Aviator UAV is a great example of collaboration

with our technology partners to meet government market needs.

GMC: What’s on the horizon for Inmarsat Global Governmentin 2017 and beyond?Todd McDonell: We will continue to roll out the GX service –and we have a fourth satellite to launch, which will provide muchmore capacity for the GX service.

As a relatively new product, we expect GX to continue togrow in the short term as more governments see its potentialas a game changer in the sector. Aviation is also an area wherewe expect to see much more growth in the short term, withgovernments increasingly recognising the importance ofdependable communications on a variety of aeronauticalplatforms. GMC





Under vehicle surveillance systems -enhancing border security

Underside scan of car showing blue bag. Photo courtesy Chemring Technology Solutions

All borders need a high level of security to ensure that private or secure sites remain that way. Whether it be drugs,explosives or unauthorised personnel, it is paramount that nothing gets by the security team. As such, most bordershave several security systems in place, which need to be both effective and efficient, to ensure safety and reducecongestion. Colin Williams, Product Manager for Chemring Technology Solutions, outlines the options available todayfor performing under vehicle checks, an important aspect of border security.

There are many different sites which need to check theunderside of vehicles as part of their security layering, fromborder security at ports and airports, to critical nationalinfrastructure and sporting events. These high-volume trafficareas need to maintain an efficient flow whilst always retainingthe balance required to provide an acceptable level of security.

The modern battle scenario, in various campaigns acrossthe world, fluxes between a force-on-force to a counterinsurgency environment. For many dismounted troops, the fieldof operation changes quickly over difficult terrain, and they facethe additional responsibility of providing security for the localpopulation. The challenge for the military is to respond in anagile fashion to a rapidly evolving threat.

It is inevitable that as the sophistication of threats evolve, sotoo must the detection techniques of the military. While the areaof under vehicle surveillance has seen recent advances,widespread adoption is slow.

Vehicle surveillanceFor many years the most commonly used system has been themanual ‘mirror on a stick’ method, where the border securityteam uses a convex mirror mounted on a stick to view theunderside of vehicles. The limitations of this method arenumerous as areas are often visually blocked, and typically onlythe edges of the underside can be seen with any clarity. Theresult is that total under vehicle surveillance is not achieved.

Also, while this method is relatively safe for the operator touse when drugs or other illegal goods are detected, the operator-to-vehicle proximity required causes obvious safety concerns if

a potential bomb threat exists. Another method, which offerscomplete viewing of the underside of the vehicle, is to install aninspection bay at the checkpoint. This requires the constructionof the bay, which needs to be sunk into the ground, however itdoesn’t deliver many advantages beyond mirrors on sticks –particularly for the operator in the event that explosives arepresent.

Regardless of the method used, in situations where anoperator needs to physically view the underside of the vehicle,there will always be issues of safety and delays. This results ineither checking quotas being implemented or insufficient timeto properly review vehicles. In an unpredictable and challengingenvironment, where the military is providing security for civiliansand their fellow soldiers, the risks are obvious.

Increased security for the 21st CenturyThe solution to these issues is a technological one. The firstcomputer-based Under Vehicle Surveillance System (UVSS)was developed by BDL Systems (now Chemring TechnologySolutions) in the late 1980s and provided low resolution, blackand white images.

Since then, this has developed into a more effective system,using high-resolution line-scan technology that offers full-colourimages, integration with Automatic Number Plate Recognition(ANPR) systems and anomaly detection. As part of thistechnology revolution, the number of manufacturers in theautomated UVSS market has also grown, giving securityspecialists an increased choice of products.

From a usability, rapid deployment and ruggedization point




Photo courtesy Chemring Technology Solutions

of view, the good news for the military is that such UVSS systemscan be supplied in static or mobile configurations. The staticsystem is a permanent deployment installed below the roadsurface, while the mobile system is a rapidly deployable portableversion, integrated into a heavy-duty rubber ramp assembly.

Three different camera technologies are used to capturevehicle underside images. The least sophisticated uses videocameras, either singly or in multiples, to present a moving imageto the operator which must be reviewed using VCR controls e.g.play, pause, rewind, stop.

The next solution employs area scan cameras, typicallymonochrome, that build up images by stitching together widestrips in the same way that a panoramic photograph is produced.Information can be discarded at the segment overlap reducing

the accuracy of the image.The third way to capture images is to use line-scanning

cameras. Line-scan technology works like a photocopier, rapidlyscanning from one side of the vehicle’s underside to the other.This delivers a single, continuous image of the underside of thevehicle. The full colour, high-resolution image means that anyanomalies easily stand-out.

The major benefit of computer-based UVSS over mirrors onsticks is that all vehicles can be checked and a complete viewof the underside of the vehicle is presented for review. This givesthe security team 100 percent coverage for the underside ofvehicles passing through the control gate.

By integrating the UVSS with an Automated Number PlateRecognition (ANPR) system, individual vehicles can also belinked to their under-chassis scans. This allows comparison witha vehicle’s previous visit to the border check site and assiststhe operator in anomaly detection.

UVSS that integrates with an ANPR system can also proveinvaluable to increase security effectiveness and support post-event reviews. It provides the ability to mark ‘wanted’ vehiclesby registration allowing security teams to instantly identify thesevehicles should they attempt to transit the security post.

UVSS technology is only as good as the operatorWhichever UVSS is used, be it mirrors, video, area scan or line-scanning, it is important that the operation is overt. Not onlydoes this give a sense of safety assurance to civilians, but italso provides a visible deterrent to those who might considersmuggling contraband or concealing a bomb. Also, whileautomated anomaly detection is also possible, there will alwaysbe a need for a human in the loop. Effective operator trainingand experience is essential as it is not the system which spotspotential threats, but the operator. As with all technology, it isonly as good as the person using it, but these technologicaladvances now mean that border security can be significantlyenhanced. GMC

Colin Williams, Product Manager for ChemringTechnology Solutions




Brandon Malatest, COO, Per Vices

Flexible wirelessplatformsPer Vices was established in Toronto, Canada, in order to develop highperformance software defined radio (SDR) platforms to meet the needsof defence and public safety providers, telecommunications providers,networking and wireless equipment OEMs, and academic and researchfacilities, among others. Amy Saunders spoke with Per Vices’ COOBrandon Malatest, to find out more about the company’s development,market presence, and its outlook for the global military and governmentcommunications sector.

GMCQ&A

Per Vices Corporation is a Canadiancompany headquartered in Toronto,Ontario, developing high performancesoftware defined radio (SDR) platformsthat are designed specifically to exceedexisting requirements for telecommuni-cation providers, networking and wirelessequipment OEMs, academic andresearch facilities, semiconductormanufacturers, information securityanalysts, defence and public safetyproviders.

Photo courtesy of Per Vices

GMC: Can you provide an overview of the development of Per Vices, fromits founding to where it stands today?Brandon Malatest: Per Vices was founded in 2006 with a primary goal ofdeveloping flexible wireless platforms. Our vision is to provide a high performanceradio platform that enables our customers to implement any kind of wirelessapplications, across a number of different industries – spanning everything fromradio modems, to radar systems, to high performance wirelesstelecommunications applications.

Our first step on this path came in the form of a software defined radio (SDR)receiver card using PCIe. This was quickly followed by a fully featured, transceivercard that incorporated a lot of customer feedback.

After successfully launching this card, we decided to follow up with a fullyfeatured, standalone product, which we called Crimson. Our initial platform,Crimson Classic, was the first SDR to offer four fully integrated transmit andreceive radio chains with over 322MHz of instantaneous bandwidth per channel;this was the first time an SDR in our class launched with over 1200MHz of radiotransceiver bandwidth (spread across its four independent receive channels).

We were very fortunate with the reception of Crimson; the performance andvalue provided by our product allowed it to be incorporated into variousapplications, including sensitive defence applications, and life criticalinfrastructure, across a number of different industries.

This confirmed the maturity and stability of our platform, and provided uswith valuable customer feedback.

With our release of the next generation of this platform, which we've calledCrimson TNG, we provide even better performance, and responded to the strongcustomer demand for features like phase coherence and more flexible clocking,including external references and pulse-per-second inputs.

The intention is for us to further help meet our customers’ applications byusing these features in their next generation projects and systems; we'vepreviously worked with customers to design full solutions that meet project




requirements. Our next generation better positions us to meettheir most demanding projects.

GMC: Which end user markets and world regions are key toPer Vices’ operations, and where is there the most room forgrowth looking ahead?Brandon Malatest: We've been lucky in that our products haveconsistently provided the high performance necessary to meetthe most demanding applications. As a result, we've foundsuccess in a number of different markets and industries.

Historically, the majority of our customers are located in NorthAmerica and Europe. Approximately half of our customers aregovernment or defence clients, with the remainder largely madeup of commercial customers. Moving forward, we're planning tocontinue our focus on defence, infrastructure, andtelecommunications markets.

GMC: Where does Per Vices see itself in the market, andhow does it differentiate itself from competitors?Brandon Malatest: The market for SDR products is acomparatively new one; it's only recently that we've seen a shiftfrom traditional radio systems to the flexibility and performanceafforded by SDR technology.

As a competitor to larger and more established providers,we're better able to provide the performance required to meetcomplex applications, including life critical infrastructure andpublic safety, at significantly better value.

We see ourselves as helping establish SDR as the standardtechnology used in these markets; our custom developmentservices allow us to provide even more value to our customersby building on our existing hardware platforms to deliver tailoredsolutions that meet the standards required for mass productionand use.

GMC: Earlier this year, Per Vices launched its secondgeneration SDR platform. What can you tell us about itsdevelopment, and how does it compare with other productson the market?Brandon Malatest: Our goal for Crimson TNG is to provide a

stable, long term, platform, that builds upon our previoussuccesses, and is capable of meeting the most demanding andcritical wireless applications.

The design process had us reconsider a lot of the originaldesign decisions with an eye towards better meeting the actualcustomer needs and applications. This process saw us addsupport for phase coherency, better phase noise performance,more flexible clocking, better time stamp support, and betterRF performance, along with a number of thermal and powerenhancements.

We're also hoping to add automatic phase and IQ calibrationas part of the design process.

So far, we've been very pleased with the customer response;our customers have consistently told us that they haven't beenable to find a more performant SDR on the market, and thatreally motivates us to further push the boundaries of ourtechnology.

GMC: What are the greatest benefits provided by SDR formilitary and government customers?Brandon Malatest: The utility offered by SDR is best explainedin terms of the flexibility and applications it enables. Similar tohow early computers were built for a dedicated purpose – oreven referred to an occupation – we now see them as platformsupon which we can concurrently perform a number of differentapplications.

The potential benefits of this approach are fairly significantfor radio applications; it potentially means that a number ofpreviously disparate applications, including communications,navigation, and location, can be processed within a singledevice, with the resulting information being effectively sharedacross various applications.

Equally true is that the benefit of this kind of convergenceisn't limited to a specific application. And though it impacts everysingle space, present technology is especially attractive to thosefacing the most demanding requirements and applications.

GMC: The SDR/cognitive radio market has developed inleaps and bounds over the years. What is your current

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Photo courtesy of US Army

assessment of the market, and what do you expect fromthe future?Brandon Malatest: We're currently seeing the benefits ofadvances in convertor and processing technology. This hashelped us realize ever more demanding and complexapplications. We're also seeing advances in wide band siliconthat promise to significantly extend the reach of SDR throughto 10-20GHz.

The increasing adoption of SDR also leads us to be optimisticthat more people will be using this technology in the future; andalmost certainly in the government space.

GMC: What’s on the horizon for Per Vices in 2017 andbeyond?Brandon Malatest: We're looking to improve our stand-alonecapabilities by trying to pack similar features in smaller, more ruggedform factors than the traditional 1U form factor. We're also lookingto develop custom applications based on customer requirementsincluding radar, signals intelligence, communications with lowlatency networks, and many more. GMC

Fincantieri AustraliaestablishedFincantieri, one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groupsand short-listed by the Australian Government to bid todesign and build nine, new frigates for the Royal AustralianNavy (RAN), has established its local company, FincantieriAustralia, and will open a new Australian headquarters inCanberra soon.

Mr Dario Deste has been designated Chairman ofFincantieri Australia and he will be supported by formerRear Admiral, Mr Mark Purcell.

Mr Deste said Fincantieri Australia will now managethe important phase of the shipbuilder’s participation inthe competitive evaluation process for the SEA 5000 FutureFrigates programme.

“Fincantieri’s commitment to this project will be totaland we will deploy all of the company’s strengths as amarket leader.

“The FREMM Frigate we are offering is an absolutecutting-edge product.

“The company will engage with Government,businesses involved in the Australian shipbuilding industryand the supply chain, and other key players with a stakein the construction of the frigates in Adelaide, SouthAustralia.

“Fincantieri Australia will be resourced with seniortechnical and other personnel recruited locally in Australiaand drawn from Fincantieri’s global network of naval shipbuilding executives.

“We are very happy with the team assembled so farand all of the people who will take part in with the teamassembled so far and all of the people who will take part inbidding for this significant naval project will have animportant role.

“I make particular mention of former Rear Admiral MarkPurcell, who has joined the team and whose experiencewill certainly be a very significant point of strength forFincantieri”, Mr Deste said.




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New developments in antennas andterminalsSatellite communications have long been a vital component of military communications systems thanks to their ubiquity,security and speed. Antennas and terminals make up a fundamental part of satellite communications systems, providinga way for soldiers to communicate between different camps, and with headquarters. Accordingly, research into antennaand terminal technology has been continuous among both commercial and military groups, meaning that capabilitieshave come on in leaps and bounds over the years, never stagnating. This holds true today, with ever-advancingcommunications solutions coming to fruition.

Hughes completes operational demonstrations of military portable terminal. Photo courtesy Hughes

Communications antenna and terminal technology has comea long way since it first came onto the market with the launch ofthe world’s first satellites in the 1950s. The growing popularityof satellite communications for commercial, enterprise andmilitary purposes has led to more and more satellites comingonline, alongside the rapid development of increasinglyadvanced antenna and terminal technology to meet newdemands.

Despite heavy pressure on defence groups to cut spendingamong tightening budgets, groups from around the globecontinue to invest heavily in communications technology in theface of new threats. Today, is has become impossible to put avalue on communications capabilities. After all, how can youput a price on the lives of soldiers or the defence of a nation,when the technology is well-tested and improving practicallydaily? Defence forces around the world rely heavily oncommercial companies developing new, secure,communications equipment, thereby avoiding a lot of thedevelopment costs themselves.

Technology demonstrationsAs new technology reaches the market, commercialmanufacturers and service providers perform demonstrationsto showcase the upgraded capabilities. Nowhere is this moreimportant than in the military sector, where unproven equipmentcan lead to loss of lives. As such, technology demonstrationsprovide evidence of capabilities, reliability, and ease of use.

In March 2016, Intelsat General Corporation and L-3

Communications Systems-West (L-3 CS-West) demonstratednew automatic beam switching technology that allows UAS fittedwith L-3 CS-West satellite communications packages to operateon the Intelsat EpicNG HTS platform. With the new high throughoutsatellite (HTS) capacity and the upgraded software, users canenhance their throughout by a factor of 3-4 on antennas withapertures smaller than 30cm.

During the demonstration, which was conducted on threeseparate bandwidth segments of Intelsat’s Horizons-1 satellite,a navigation simulator representing a UAS flew through threedistinct HTS spot beams on a single EpicNG-class satellite.Engineers used an L-3 CS-West hub and terminal modems tomeasure end-to-end performance of full-motion video and IPdata between the UAS and the hub controller, as the systemautomatically switched the frequency and polarisation while theUAS moved between beams.

“Through our collaboration with Intelsat, both airborne andground users will be able to upgrade the software on existing L-3 wideband modems to provide automatic beam switchingcapabilities for service on HTS like Intelsat’s EpicNG,” said AndyIvers, President of L-3 CS-West. “These results mark animportant milestone in providing our customers with the abilityto modernise their existing assets within today’s fiscallyconstrained defence budget environment.” Intelsat General andL-3 CS-West plan to conduct further tests with user platformsover the new EpicNG IS-29 satellite.

Meanwhile, in June 2016, GetSAT, Hughes NetworkSystems, Klas Telecom and NexTech Solutions (NTS) partnered




to demonstrate an integrated Communications-On-The-Move(COTM) SATCOM solution for HD video, voice and dataconnectivity in Virginia, USA.

The solution consists of a Klas Telecom Voyager 8basebound kit running Acano HD video collaboration software,Sonus VX for voice optimisation and Riverbed Virtual SteelHeadfor data bandwidth optimisation. A GetSAT Micro Satelliteantenna was connected to the Hughes HM200 COTM modem,which operates on the Hughes Scrambled Code Multiple Access(SCMA) waveform. A 1.8m antenna and HM100 modem atHughes’ facility in Maryland, USA, provided the hub and Internetconnection.

The solution was first mounted on a fast-moving SUV todemonstrate an uninterrupted HD video call between sixparticipants in different locations. The same facility was achievedon a fast-moving US Navy ship. “Both the land and maritimevehicles were manoeuvring at top speeds,” said NTS Directorof Engineering, Louis Pacheco. “We also experienced rainy and

cloudy conditions and the system performed beautifully withhigh uplink and downlink speeds.”

In other news, July 2016 saw Hughes’ Defense andIntelligence Systems Division (DISD) complete thedemonstrations of its HM300 portable terminal, which providesportable X-band communications, and was designed inpartnership with Airbus Defence and Space and TampaMicrowave. The HM300 terminal was designed to meet the callto action from the US Army Special Operations Command(USASOC) G6 at the C41 Conference in 2015 for ‘new capability’to improve satellite communications. Designed for long-rangescout teams, early-entry units, forward deployed teams andexecutive communications, the HM300 meets the reduced size,weight and power (SWaP) demands of Special OperationsForces (SOF) missions.

Tests in December 2015 between an Earth station in the UKand Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and operating over Airbus’XEBRA service, showed that the HM300 demonstrated beyond-

Photo courtesy dvidshub/Tech. Sgt. Lauren Gleason




line-of-sight (BLoS) capabilities with data rates up to 512kbpssymmetrically to transmit video, voice and data. A secondscenario demonstrated autonomous operation transmitting toand from a 4.0m GATR antenna at Fort Bragg, providing VoIPand live video using an encoder. Later, in January 2016, theHM300 terminal was deployed during a Combat AirborneTraining Operation. One paratrooper jumped the HM300 terminalwhile another jumped baseband equipment, demonstrating theterminal’s SWaP benefits and earning it a ‘jumpable’ designation.

“These tests successfully demonstrate the numerousscenarios of the HM300 terminal’s operational flexibility withthe XEBRA service as a reliable, durable and cost-effectivecommunications solution,” said Dan Losada, Senior Director ofDoD programs at Hughes DISD. “Its rapid deployment capability,with only minimal training requirements and avoidance of highservice cost, makes it an ideal fit for the evolving needs of themilitary.”

Flat panel antennas: Leading the packWithin the communications segment, the last decade has seenan overwhelming number of new antenna systems enter themarket, most designed with mobility and Size, Weight and Power(SWaP) considerations in mind. Flat panel antennas, however,are garnering the lion’s share of media coverage today, and forgood reason.

Military customers have been testing flat panel antennasfor more than a decade, but it is only now that they are comingonto the commercial market for wide-scale use. This commercialinvestment leads to more affordable flat panel antenna solutionsbeing developed, much to the benefit of potential military users.Flat panel antennas are ideal for many mobile applications dueto their low profiles, low weight, ease-of-use and reliability. Withno mechanical parts, flat panel antennas are expected to slowlydegrade in terms of functionality, rather than causing a totalsystem failure at a vital moment.

Northern Sky Research (NSR) expects the flat panel antennamarket to produce more than US$710 million in annual revenuesby 2025, with the most prominent demand coming fromaeronautical, maritime and land-mobile markets, in both thegovernment and commercial sectors. Thanks to the lower pricepoints and higher connectivity speeds, high throughout satellites(HTS) and flat panel antennas will provide mutually-beneficialmarket growth.

“Flat panel antennas have the potential to drive solid growthfor the satcom industry, while addressing issues that traditionalVSATs face in terms of efficiency, ease of use and installation,”said Prateep Basu, NSR Analyst and co-author of the report.“But as the industry gradually migrates towards HTS-basedservices, and leverages the massive onslaught of capacity thesewill bring, flat panel antennas are expected to help customersfind the right match between price and performance.”

Despite the media attention lavished on Kymeta and Phasorand their electronically-steerable flat panel antennas, they’refar from the only ones active in the flat panel antenna market.

Thales Group currently offers a range of tactical flat panelantennas under the SATMOVE family, designed for land, airand sea. The terminals are full outdoor integrated, ruggedized,designed for military and commercial frequencies, and offer highspeed connectivity for both On-The-Move (OTM) and On-The-Pause applications.

In June 2016, Thales announced its SATMOVE Ka-bandterminals following its earlier successful deployment ofSATMOVE X-band terminals. The SATMOVE terminals useactive electronically scanned antenna (AESA) technology toprovide enhanced coverage and availability, with very highthroughput speeds of up to 13Mbps, for mobile land, air andmaritime applications. The first trials for the Ka-band SATMOVEterminal are due at the end of 2016.

C-COM Satellite Solutions is also entering the flat panelantenna market, having successfully tested its first Ka-bandphased array antenna modules in May 2016, which were

developed in partnership with the University of Waterloo,Canada. C-COM aims to deliver low-profile, low-cost, Ku, Ka orhybrid Ku/Ka-band antenna systems for the fixed and mobilemarkets.

The intelligent 4x4 Ka-band antenna modules tested showedthat even when several of the 16 antenna elements were turnedoff, the module was still able to deliver results, without significantperformance degradation. This is essential to ensure continuouscommunications capabilities.

“We are very excited about this new Ka-band antennatechnology development and its potential application to expandthe addressable markets for electronically steerable flat panelsatellite antennas,” said Bilal Awada, CTO of C-COM. “The 4×4phased array modular approach provides the basic buildingblocks required to manufacture new Ka-band antenna designsof various shapes and sizes for fixed and mobile applications. Itis a potential game changer for the mobile broadband satellitemarket - whether land-based, maritime or airborne - as well asfor next generation 5G mobile cellular communications.”

Phasor and Kymeta represent the next step in technologywith their electronically-steerable flat panel antennas. Unlike theflat panel offerings currently available, the Kymeta and Phasorsolutions have no mechanical parts, providing extremely low-profiles and impressive lifetimes.

Both Phasor and Kymeta plan to commercially launch theirfirst products to market in early 2017, and both are working withpartner companies to tailor solutions for different markets. Phasoris collaborating with Intelsat, OmniAccess and Harris Caprockto provide solutions for the super- and mega-yachts, aviation,and cruise markets, respectively. Meanwhile, Kymeta haspartnered with Intelsat, Inmarsat and Panasonic Avionics forconnected cars, aviation and maritime applications.

New material applications enable new communicationssolutionsAs military antennas become more lightweight, efficient andportable, military communications capabilities will continue toevolve and improve. However, the real game-changer for militarygroups will be the next-generation innovative ideas that are

Intelsat EPICNG. Photo courtesy of Boeing




turned into truly ground breaking feats of technology. The keylink between the three outstanding ideas from 2016 discussedbelow is that they all depend on new material applications whichenable new approaches for vital communications technologies.

At the Intelligence and National Security Alliance summit inSeptember 2016, Larry Holmes, Principle Investigator at theUS Army Research Laboratory (ARL), outlined how 3D printingcould be used in the battlefield to enhance militarycommunications capabilities. In addition to producing spycameras, biometric communications, and ballistic missiles, 3Dprinting could also be used to make plastic satellite antennas.

Since plastic is non-conductive, such antennas could operate‘above or separately’ from the electromagnetic spectrum, helpingto keep communications operational in a congested or contestedzone. Instead of relying on being made from a conductivematerial, the antenna would function via the dielectric propertiesdesigned into its geometric composition. Research is ongoingat the University of Texas to make this possible.

Aside from maintaining communications, the benefits ofmanufacturing antennas in the field include not having totransport bulky parts, which would, according to Holmes: “Helpus reduce logistics and the logistics trail, but also help withsignature management.”

Also in September 2016, reports of a new anti-sonar antennatechnology emerged from Russia. According to local media,

Russian submarines will be fitted with piezoceramic coatingantennas which will be able to intercept and distort enemy sonarsignals.

OceanPribor and the Krylov Research Center are developingthe technology under the Foundation for Advanced ResearchProjects, for the ‘Korsas’ project. Essentially, with the newtechnology, a polymer membrane comprised of piezoceramicswill cover the entire hull of the vessel. An incoming sonar signalis transformed to electrical energy, prompting a measurablechange to the piezoceramic antenna which is analysed by theantenna’s control system. The sonar signal is then distorted,and sent back towards the source.

An unnamed source, allegedly from inside the RussianDefense Ministry, told Russian newspaper Izvestia: “The workis at final stage, and trials of particular elements will start in thenearest future. It is the polymeric film based on oxides ofzirconium, titanium and lead. The film is able both to absorbexternal radio signals and conduct them. In fact, the piezorubbercoating applied on a submarine turns the whole hull into ahydroacoustic antenna.”

The new technology is expected to be installed on existingand future submarines and submersibles in the Russian Navyonce research and development is completed in 2017.Piezoceramic antennas might one day replace the passiverubber anti-sonar coatings currently in use by many submarinesaround the world.

Meanwhile, in October 2016, Bluewater Defense and VorbeckMaterials launched next-generation, high-performance wearableantennas featuring multiple communications bands, includingLTW capabilities, for military, tactical and commercial use. Theantennas are discrete, conformal printed graphene embeddedin military apparel and backpacks. The partners highlighted thefollowing benefits:

• Increased existing cell phone coverage by up to 200 percent;• Significant upload and download speeds improvements;• Omni-directional coverage through the deployment of array

of antennas;• Supports wide frequency range from 800-3000Mhz;• Durable, flexible, washable and non-corrosive;

environmentally friendly; and• Increased battery life by reduced operating power.

"We expect that our military and defence leaders willappreciate a high-performance, wearable antenna with little orno silhouette, therefore better protecting the warfighter," saidVorbeck's CEO, John Lettow. "Two additional benefits of thistechnology are that it delivers real-time, 'on-the-go'communication capabilities because there is no need to deployan external antenna, and they also interface with traditionalelectronics, making them very easy to field.” GMC

Photo ourtesy Defense Imagery ManagementOperations Center


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Photo courtesy O3b Networks

Fibre speed satellite comes to the battleedgeCommunications play a vital role in modern warfare, enabling everything from rapid responses to the analysis of keydata in the battlefield. However, traditional satellite networks have their disadvantages, with data limits and latency amajor concern among defense forces around the world. One solution is high throughout, medium Earth orbit (MEO)satellites, which have lower latencies and enable a more seamless communications system. Jack Deasy, Vice Presidentof Government Sales at O3b Networks, describes the critical role real-time communications play in the battlefield, andhow new satellite networks like O3b’s MEO system, can play a key role.

Communications technology is constantly evolving and nowanything seems possible. Who would have believed 15 yearsago that in 2016 you can stream a crystal clear, real-time videofrom almost anywhere to a device that fits in your pocket?However, as we’ve come to rely on modern communications ineveryday life, we’ve also come to expect it.

This expectation almost defines our outlook on life. We expectto be able to pick up a smartphone or tablet and instantly checkan app, watch the news in real time, read email, and sharephotos, all while streaming a movie on the TV in the background.It is so much a part of modern life that we don’t even think aboutit anymore.

But for our nation’s warfighters, it’s a different story. Theexpectation of the same immediate, high speed access to criticalinformation and communications that we enjoy in everyday lifeis frequently thwarted by choked bandwidth, where it mattersmost – on the frontline.

Choked bandwidth blocks the capabilities of the warfighterToday’s theater of operations is broader than it has ever been. Itextends from command centers in the US and Europe, acrossoceans and skies to an increasingly ill-defined frontline. Toachieve an operational advantage, the military has embracedsophisticated data networks and IT systems to collect,aggregate, analyze and disseminate intelligence; issue ordersand report back to commanders.

However, this reliance on a net-centric technologyinfrastructure requires that the network has the speed, reliabilityand security to deliver ISR data where and when it is needed.

When every millisecond counts, satellite isn’t always thereNet-centric warfare has become a critical advantage for the USmilitary. In modern operational deployments, decisions are madeon a global scale. Every data set of intelligence gathered in thefield is shipped back to remote analysts who sift, parse andenhance the value of that data so that it can be acted uponprecisely and quickly back on the frontlines. Whether it’s highdefinition, full motion video from a fleet of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs), sensor data or a direct video link between thefield and central command back in the US, every millisecondand every bit counts.

But at the edge of the battlespace, traditional satellitecommunications have been a constraint on the operationalcapabilities of dispersed forces. With network speeds that areoften no more than dial-up or 2G and frequently interrupted,even basic applications, like email, take an excruciatingly longtime to access.

Under such constraints, the command structure is forced tocompromise. Decisions must be made about which applicationsand communications to prioritize, leaving valuable data andpotentially mission-critical intelligence on servers to be analyzedlater or with central resources, but not in the hands of thewarfighter than needs it on the frontline.

Realizing the expectations of net-centric warfareIt’s a stark reality that goes against the grain of everything we

expect of modern net-centric warfare. Thanks to the movies andTV, we imagine that our military have access to powerful networkservices even in the most remote parts of the globe. After all,Jason Bourne and Homeland’s Carrie Mathison do. Not amoment passes when they aren’t able to transmit raw data fromthe field for analysis and enhancement back at mission control,and data can be relayed to them as useable intelligence instantly– no matter where their missions take them.

Yet reality is far from this. While the military is deployingvery sophisticated sensors in the field capable of capturing largeamounts of raw data, the communication technology thattransports it is lagging.

Pushing high throughput network services to the edgeWhile the satellite industry can bring reliable data connectionsto the battlefield, traditional geosynchronous (GEO) satellitescan’t provide the quality or quantity of Internet service needed




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Photo courtesy of O3b Networks

for advanced military applications at edge-based physical sites.High throughput, medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites are a

better option for these applications and are key to unlocking thepotential of a net-centric battlefield. Because these satellitesuse higher frequencies and smaller concentrated spot beams,they deliver 10-100 times the throughput of traditionalalternatives, enabling seamless data and video applicationservices. And, because they orbit much closer to the Earth, theround trip response time to deliver data from one point to anotherover a satellite link is much less.

Increased throughput can be critical for the faster downloadof data for the analyst, reliable deployment of time sensitiveapplications and consistent communication with base operations– with a fibre-equivalent performance in areas where fibre simplyisn’t an option.

These solutions are deployed on the ground with atransportable solution that provides warfighters with higher-quality 4G services, and can be up and running in a matter ofhours compared to the weeks, months or years needed to deploya comparable fibre network.

Going beyond cherry picking data setsIn the past, GEO satellites forced the Tactical Operations Center(TOC) or the warfighter to cherry pick sub-sets of data or asnippet of information for transmission and analysis – perhapsone or two feeds captured from a live UAV sensor. But with highthroughput, MEO satellite technology, military personnel cantake full advantage of their field equipment and the analyticalcapabilities of their specialists to capture, process, transmit andaccess a full set of data in real time or near-real time, regardlessof the volume, for higher quality guidance and a more finishedintelligence product.

Doing more with lessFurthermore, unlike GEO satellites, these satellites are optimizedto support cloud-based and remote applications delivered overa network that features the same characteristics and quality asif it was plugged into the wall at the Pentagon. It’s a distinctadvantage that drives up the return on investment for budget-

restricted agencies by eliminating the high cost associated withdeploying multiple servers or support staff on-the-ground.

An optimal solution for the tactical edgeWith high throughput, MEO satellites, reality finally catches upwith expectation. Today there is no reason why the remotewarfighter shouldn’t have the same secure, high throughput,low latency network services as their connected teams in thePentagon. The incorporation of robust and fast end-to-endconnectivity that supports rapid deployment presents an optimalsolution for the tactical edge – turning information advantageinto military advantage, realizing the promise of net-centricwarfare. GMC

Photo courtesy of O3b Networks




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Detection, geolocation and resolution ofL-band radar rebroadcast interferenceInterference is a growing problem for commercial andgovernment communications users alike, amplified by theincreasing number of satellites and terminals coming intooperation. For government and military consumers,interference can be the difference between missionsuccess and mission failure, and even life and death. MikeFelix, Network Operations Center Supervisor at Kratos,describes a recent interference event that was detectedand resolved for one of Kratos’ customers, and outlineshow some interference can be avoided with goodinstallation procedures.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) has been steadily onthe increase for a number of reasons. Millions of VSATS arenow in service, two degree spacing between satellites in ageostationary arc is less common, industry estimates indicatemore than 100 new HTS payloads and satellites are expectedto launch over the next decade, and a proposed wave of lowEarth orbit (LEO) communications satellite constellations couldultimately launch over a 1,000 small satellites.

The majority of interference is unintentional, due to a varietyof factors. Operators may be using faulty equipment, systemsmay be incorrectly positioned, or operators may not be incompliance with regulations. Adjacent satellites can also be aproblem due to their close proximity. Even though unintentional,RFI can have serious repercussions if not quickly detected andmitigated.

For tunately, interference detection and geolocationcapabilities have grown more precise and are helping to resolvethe issue, even as it becomes more complex. Monics® andsatID® from Satellite Interference Reduction Group (iRG)member Kratos, products for monitoring and detecting RFI andgeolocating it, respectively, are two examples. Leading satelliteand network operators have installed and rely on both Monicsand satID. Kratos also provides RF interference monitoring andgeolocation as a managed service for commercial andgovernment clients.

Solving L-band radar interferenceMike Felix, Network Operations Center Supervisor at Kratos,describes a typical incident detected and resolved in a managedservices scenario. “While the Kratos Network Operations Center(NOC) was monitoring bandwidth for one of our customers, wedetected an interfering signal operating in two planned frequencyslots,” explained Felix.

The NOC had configured Monics with the particulars of allcustomer signals in the monitored transponder. A Monicsmonitoring plan was then configured to continuously scan boththe planned and leased-but-unplanned portions of thetransponder. In this case, Monics detected signals that did notmatch two different carrier slots and generated specific alarms,one at the transponder summary level and one for each carrierslot, indicating an unplanned carrier was present.

The interference experienced by the customer was causedby an L-band radar type signal being rebroadcast to the satellite(figure 2). This customer operates an L-band radar system thatis commonly deployed to their facilities, which also featureSATCOM terminals. The radar system can operate in the sameL-band frequency range as the SATCOM terminal’s block up-converter (BUC) input. As in this case, if the cable between theuser’s modulator and BUC input is damaged or improperlyterminated, the high-power radar signal will enter the BUC’s

Figure 1: Space congestion

input. At this point, the RADAR is up-converted, amplified, andtransmitted to the satellite just like any L-band signal from theuser’s modulator.

Kratos’ first step was to advise the customer of the issueand recommend they move the affected users while resolutionefforts took place. Given the severity of this interference, it waslikely that at least one of the two affected users would havebeen significantly impacted through either reduced linkthroughput or even the inability to maintain any kind of usableSATCOM link. By proactively detecting the interference andrelocating the affected users to alternate spectrum, the user’sthroughput and link stability were ensured. This is an exampleof maintaining the customer’s Service Level Agreement (SLA)while working the root cause of an interference problem.

When the customer contacted the service provider of thisbandwidth to elevate the issue, the service provider initiallyclaimed the interference was due to issues with a cross-pol (x-pol) user. Kratos was able to demonstrate that this was not acase of cross-pol interference by providing a cross-pol overlayspectrum plot. In the following Monics spectral plot (figure 3.),the affected (co-pol) frequencies are in green, while the lightblue trace shows the active bandwidth on the cross-pol. Anydifferences in transponder local oscillators (LO, ‘turnaround’)frequencies are compensated for by the Monics CarrierMonitoring System (CMS). This also shows the benefit ofensuring that carrier management systems have the RF inputof both the bandwidth to be monitored and the cross-pol

Figure 2. Interference Event – Monics DwellWindow




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bandwidth on the same satellite.The analysis showed that the interference source was not

an improperly polarized terminal operating on the opposite uplinkpolarity. Kratos also provided additional time-basedmeasurements of the interference using Monics’ ‘Spectrogram’feature (figure 4). In this mode, Monics measures the bandwidthover a user specified period of time, and we can see that whilethe two active user carriers are constantly accessed, theinterference varies both in amplitude and frequency over time.

Given the unique spectral shape and behaviour of theinterference, the Kratos NOC suspected this was likely an L-band radar rebroadcast, as it had dealt with previous instancesof similar interference, all of which were traced to the same typeof issue. Given this analysis, Kratos moved to geolocate theinterference. A geolocation was deemed necessary as the initialspectral plots and interference characterization would likely notbe enough to identify the terminal transmitting the interference.The geolocation results pointed to one of Kratos’ customer’sknown sites, even though this site was not known to use thisparticular satellite’s bandwidth at the time of the event (figure5).

The customer reached out to the entity responsible forassigning bandwidth on this satellite/transponder to individualusers. During this engagement, it was determined that a terminalat the suspected facility had recently been activated on theaffected satellite, however, in a different transponder. As is thecase with L-band radar rebroadcasts, the interference can insertitself anywhere in the BUC’s L-band IF range. Depending onthe uplink frequency band and manufacturer, this can beanywhere from 950 to 1750+ MHz. The terminal was contactedand during a brief turn-off test, it was determined to be the sourceof the interference. After making repairs, the terminal re-accessed without the interference present and, after a shortmonitoring period, the problem was solved.

“For some operators, a managed services approach is moreefficient,” said Felix. “At the NOC, we have professional operatorswho do this for a living. We have a global infrastructure that wemaintain, and have developed the products that we deploy. So

we can install new software or features that would benefit thecustomer, who doesn’t have to worry about maintaining andoperating the infrastructure.” At the same time, he explained,many of the large satellite operators want to own and managetheir own RFI monitoring, detection and geolocation systems;but for those customers whose operating environment is moreconducive to a managed service approach, Kratos can offerthem that as well.

Prevention is better than curePrevention is better than cure, and with that in mind installersand operators should use high quality, properly-terminatedcables when dealing with any radio signal. More common cellularnetwork issues can also cause these same issues with L-bandbased terminals. While this event was due to an L-band uplinkchain issue, a legacy 70/140 MHz terminal could have easilysuccumbed to the same problem with an FM or other terrestrialsignal. Installers and operators should ensure that any signalcombiners and sample ports all have proper terminatorsinstalled. However, even with best practices, these types ofissues will continue to occur in the real word. Over time, cablescan be jostled by winds, vehicles can drive over cable runs, andanimals can chew on cables. Terminal operators and maintainersmust be aware of the entire path their cabling takes, from theirmodem to the BUC, as well as any test or combiner points inbetween.

Even in well run organizations, terminal installation andactivation procedures can break down leaving people unawarethat a new terminal had accessed a particular satellite. This canhappen especially when service providers and installers arenot required to coordinate with satellite operators to commissiona new terminal. There will always be a need for someone tohave a master list of all current, planned, and previous terminalson a satellite. In other cases, there might be requirement for a‘last kilometer’ search via ground or helicopter to find theoffending terminal. Having a list of known current, planned, andpreviously active terminals can help to expedite ground searchefforts when looking for terminals with equipment issues.

Figure 3. Monics Spectral Plot - Cross Pol

Figure 4. Spectrum Analyzer and Spectrogramviews - The view on the left is a stand spectrumanalyser type view with frequency on the X axisand amplitude on the Y axis. In the view on theright, the X-axis still represents frequency, butthe Y axis represents time and the colordifferences represent amplitude Figure 5. satID Geolocation map location

GMC





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Documents

November/December 2016 - satelliteevolutiongroup.com€¦ · with the Convention on Cluster Munitions of 2008, replacing them with new unitary warheads. The modernization process