EHF SATCOM Terminals

Abstract

The Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) Program is the required Navy component to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Program for enhancing protected and survivable satellite communications to Naval forces. Although development of the NMT terminal is complete, software and hardware upgrade development is ongoing to provide enhanced capabilities to the fleet. The NMT system provides an increase in single service capability from 1.5 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 8 Mbps, increases the number of coverage areas, and retains Anti-Jam/Low Probability of Intercept (AJ/LPI) protection characteristics. It is compatible with legacy Navy Low Data Rate/Medium Data Rate (LDR/MDR) terminals and will sustain the Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) architecture by providing connectivity across the spectrum of mission areas, to include land, air and naval warfare, special operations, strategic defense, theater missile defense, and space operations and intelligence. The NMT system replenishes and improves on Navy Military Strategic, Tactical & Relay System (MILSTAR), Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS), Wideband Global Satellite (WGS), and Global Broadcast Service (GBS) terminal capabilities. The new system equips the warfighters with assured, jam resistant, secure communications as described in both the joint AEHF Satellite Communications System and the WGS Operational Requirement Documents (ORD). Mission requirements specific to Navy operations, including threat levels and scenarios, are contained in the ORD. The NMT provides multiband Satellite Communications (SATCOM) capability for ship, submarine, and protected MILSATCOM for shore sites. The Wideband Anti-Jam Modem System (WAMS) is a Navy technology upgrade that enhances communication capability of shipboard and submarine NMTs by providing wideband Anti-Jam (AJ) Satellite Communication throughput over Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS). WAMS is a major contributor in supporting the National Defense Strategy by investing in resilience to provide assured communications capabilities. WAMS enables space segment Anti Jam (AJ) diversity (EHF/AEHF and WGS), thus enabling NMT ships and submarines equipped with the modem to operate in wideband links closer to threat jammers. The United States USAF (USAF) Protected Tactical Enterprise Service (PTES) program will provide the ground hub component of the WAMS communication system. This PTES joint hub will serve as a DoD enterprise service ground solution for the use of the Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW) of SATCOM communications and introduces a Network Operations Without Shore (NOWS) capability. The NOWS capability will use the Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) waveform that provides uninterrupted communication in case of loss of shore hub connectivity. PTW is a Frequency Hopped Spread Spectrum (FHSS) waveform that provides high data rates in a benign environment and anti-jam protection to meet contested data rate requirements. High data rate anti-jam capability is enabled via the Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW) and low data rate anti-jam capability is provided via the Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) waveform. These two waveforms are designed to operate over the Wideband Global SATCOM system as well as other transponded satellites, and are also forward compatible with the on-board processing capabilities of the future Protected Tactical Satellites (PTS). WAMS enables the use of WGS X and Ka-band resources to assure access to mission critical communications to provide Resilient Command and Control (RC2) capabilities in contested/degraded environments, formerly known as Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD). The use of WAMS PTW on WGS will augment AEHF Extended Data Rate (XDR) services to provide the information throughput capacity necessary to support critical Command and Control capability. Development efforts, including Adaptive Coding, Time of Day, and the Wideband Anti-Jam Modem System (WAMS) augment the baseline NMT system to pace the evolving threats to the warfighter. The Time of Day (TOD) capability promotes communications reliability and resiliency; when the channel is degraded due to inclement weather or adversarial action. TOD enables the system to automatically transition to a more robust, lower code rate resulting in ability to maintain satellite link thereby allowing the fleet to preserve communications. The Mobile Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Terminal (MAT) is the Navy's solution to provide key communications using the AEHF satellite constellation to support the Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) Ground Communication mobile mission, while also meeting mobility, size and weight requirements. The FY20 request will provide for planning and design efforts to include requirements definition and refinement, cost estimates, Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) development and maintenance, analysis of alternatives, and acquisition approach development for the potential follow-on effort. The project requires technical and trade studies including technical feasibility studies, security studies, link budget study, High altitude Electro Magnetic Pulse (HEMP) study, existing terminal studies, Baseband studies, future compatibility studies, and logistics commonality studies. The FY20 request will provide for the award of a full and open competitive contract for the design and development Wideband Anti Jam Modem System (WAMS) to include the Navy unique requirements and to design and implement the changes required to the technical baseline to support the integration of WAMS with the NMT. The FY20 request will also provide for MAT planning, design efforts, cost estimates, Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) development and maintenance, analysis of alternatives, and acquisition approach development for the potential follow-on effort.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2020
• Source ID: 0728_0303109N_7_1319_PB_2020

Tags

Readers

• Tactical Satellite Communications Systems Engineering.

Technology Areas

• Fully Networked C3
• Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
• Space
• Space - Satellites