https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Incident Command/Situational Awareness


News

Low-cost satellite terminals developed for military field use

Low-cost satellite terminals developed for military field use

Companies develop low-cost satellite terminal that avoids jamming.
  • Written by
  • 4th October 2012

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman recently announced the joint development of low-cost satellite terminals designed for use by warfighters for field operations.

Two types of terminals were developed. The P-SNAP — Protected SIPR/NIPR Access Point — uses a dish antenna and is designed for fixed locations; and the P-COTM — Protected Communications on the Move — uses a low-profile, vehicle-mounted antenna and is targeted for mobile operations.

Both operate on the U.S. military's Milstar and AEHF — Advanced Extremely High Frequency — satellites that feature anti-jamming technology. The devices themselves also are highly resistant to jamming.

"It has to do with both the waveform that the satellite uses and the fact that it is a frequency-hopping system that basically operates similar to a ground tactical radio," said Gasper Gulotta, TCS' senior director of professional services. "It moves through the frequencies very quickly, which makes it almost impossible to jam it, unless you have a very, very broad frequency jammer with a lot of power — which we haven't seen."

The data terminals currently used by the military for field operations often leverage commercial satellite networks, which are prone to disruption, according to Gulotta.

"All you need is an enemy that is sophisticated enough, or perhaps well-funded enough, to jam those signals," he said, adding that the commercial operators have experienced this phenomenon to such degree in some regions of the world that it seems jamming their signals is as simple as flipping a switch. "We can only guess as to how much that vulnerability is being experienced by the military."

While there is a significant need for data terminals in military theaters of operation, they typically are found only at brigade headquarters and other key facilities due to their cost, according to Gulotta. However, TCS, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman found a way to develop a low-cost terminal (LCT) that is much less expensive than the data terminals that currently are fielded, he said.

"We call this an 80% solution at 10% of the cost," Gulotta said. "These terminals are built to work cooperatively with existing systems. They don't do it all. Primarily, that means the software is not the full complement of software that some of the more expensive systems have. So, these terminals would be considered member terminals of a network, rather than the network operator — they don't set up the network, they join the network."

The project began four years ago, when the military approached Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to develop a P-COTM capability. The two companies approached TCS 18 months ago, because of the company's experience with very-small-aperture-terminals (VSATs) as well as SNAP technology, according to Gulotta.

"We have about 800 [commercial] VSAT terminals already deployed across the world, and a very robust logistics team that services them. … [Plus] the military already was using our SNAP terminal, which they were very happy with," said Gulotta, who added that creating the low-cost terminal was simply a matter of reengineering its SNAP terminal to work with the components that Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin already had created.

The LCTs currently provide data speeds up to 1.5 MB/s — comparable to the data terminals the military currently uses, Gulotta said — but an upgrade kit is available to boost data speeds as high as 8 MB/s. The devices can be hooked up to cryptographic equipment to transmit and receive classified traffic.

The next step is to field test the prototypes, which only have been tested under factory loads so far, according to Gulotta.

"The one thing that we have not done is test over the open air," he said. "In order to do that on a protected terminal, you have to have an interim authority to test from the National Security Agency. To do that, you need a military sponsor to come forward with a mission and a need. … Right now, we're looking for that military customer that will step up."

Although the Army has expressed a need for protected communications on the move, the money to move forward with the project is lacking at the moment. According to Gulotta, there's no time to waste.

"We don't want to wait until our forces get into a very-denied electromagnetic environment before we figure out that we need to deploy more protective communications," he said. "Let's realize that threat is there now, and let's prepare for it. We've done this at a very low cost to enable that to happen, even in a very tough financial environment like the one we're in now.

"The time to figure out that you need a new acquisition program is not when you're in the midst of a catastrophe. The jamming threat is real, we know it's real, and we think keeping a system like this — which costs one-tenth the price of a traditional terminal — moving through the certification process makes good sense."

Tags: Disaster Response Military Satellite Wide Area Backhaul Federal Government/Military Incident Command/Situational Awareness News Wireless Networks News

Most Recent


  • AT&T becoming a “public-safety company” with FirstNet, NG911 work, exec says
    AT&T has long been one of the greatest consumer communications brands in the world, but the carrier is beginning to become “a public-safety company” through its first-responder-centric efforts in the development of FirstNet and next-generation 911 (NG911) networks, according to Scott Agnew, the new COO of AT&T’s FirstNet team. Two weeks ago, AT&T executives revealed […]
  • U.S. government plans to block all tech exports to Huawei–reports
    The Biden administration is weighing a plan to block the export of all US-sourced technologies to Huawei – the latest escalation in Washington’s years-long campaign to throttle the Chinese firm. The new bans, first reported by Financial Times (paywall applies), would likely fall most heavily on firms such as Intel and Qualcomm that sell Huawei server and […]
  • Command-injection bug in Cisco industrial gear opens devices to complete takeover
    A security vulnerability has been found in Cisco gear used in data centers, large enterprises, industrial factories, power plants, manufacturing centers, and smart city power grids that could allow cyberattackers unfettered access to these devices and broader networks. In a report published on Feb. 1, researchers from Trellix revealed the bug, one of two vulnerabilities discovered that […]
  • AR-based next-gen maps aim to rebalance detail and simplicity
    Every sat-nav user is familiar with the chagrin of missing their turn because the map’s lines and circles don’t resemble the real world. Yandex is blaming maps, not users, for these errors. At its annual conference in December, the company presented its re-designed maps boasting natural-looking 3D objects such as trees, bus stops, colored buildings, […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • New Orleans-area 911 center inks multiyear APEX deal with Carbyne to replace call-handling system
  • Cyber is the new Cold War, and AI is the arms race
  • Private wireless networks in the US start going public
  • Microsoft patches 6 zero-day vulnerabilities under active attack

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

AT&T becoming a “public-safety company” with FirstNet, NG911 work, exec says dlvr.it/Sj8FXL

9th February 2023
UrgentComm

Command-injection bug in Cisco industrial gear opens devices to complete takeover dlvr.it/Sj6X3l

8th February 2023
UrgentComm

AR-based next-gen maps aim to rebalance detail and simplicity dlvr.it/Sj4gdM

7th February 2023
UrgentComm

Vodafone UK starts ‘risky’ shift to 5G standalone dlvr.it/Sj4dPJ

7th February 2023
UrgentComm

ChatGPT may be fastest-growing app of all time, UBS Says dlvr.it/Sj4NfL

7th February 2023
UrgentComm

Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding dlvr.it/ShwGfn

4th February 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny dlvr.it/Shvpw3

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless dlvr.it/Shth0P

3rd February 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.