MIDS/JTRS

Abstract

The Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) program office is the Lead Service for Department of Defense (DOD) Link 16 capability and consists of two (2) product lines, MIDS Low Volume Terminal (LVT) (legacy hardware defined radio) and MIDS Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) (software defined radio). MIDS-LVT effort is a cooperative development program between France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States with United States joint service participation (Navy, Army, Air Force), and has provided over 11,000 terminals to 48 Nations providing interoperability with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and coalition partners. The Department of Defense (DoD) established the program to design, develop, and deliver low volume, lightweight tactical information system terminals for U.S. and allied fighter aircraft, bombers, helicopters, ships, and ground sites. MIDS-LVT significantly increases force effectiveness and minimizes hostile actions and friend-on-friend engagements. The current development program for LVT is the Block Upgrade 2 (BU2) effort designed to meet the Cryptographic Modernization (CM) and Frequency Remapping (FR) mandates required for all US and international users which occurs inside the FYDP. MIDS-LVT BU2 was executed as an ECP and provides the critical upgrades to the MIDS-LVT Terminal to enable U.S., Coalition and International partners' ability to meet the National Security Agency (NSA) mandated timelines for CM and the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) and Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) mandated timelines for FR. MIDS JTRS, designed as a Pre-Planned Product Improvement (P3I) and executed as an Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) to the production MIDS-LVT configuration, and is fully compatible with MIDS-LVT. The MIDS JTRS Core Terminal achieved Full Fielding & Production (FP&F) in March 2012. It facilitated the JTRS incremental approach for fielding advanced JTRS transformational networking capability and transformed the MIDS-LVT into a 4-channel, Software Communications Architecture (SCA) compliant, Joint Tactical Radio. A form-fit-function replacement to MIDS-LVT, MIDS JTRS also adds three programmable 2 Megahertz (MHz) to 2 Gigahertz (GHz) channels capable of hosting the JTRS legacy and networking waveforms. In addition to Link 16, Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN), and voice functionality found in MIDS-LVT, MIDS JTRS has four channels and adds capabilities such as Link 16 Enhanced Throughput (ET), Link 16 Frequency Re-mapping (FR), software programmability, Cryptographic Modernization (CM), and Four Net Concurrent Multi-Netting with Concurrent Contention Receive (CMN-4). MIDS JTRS Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT), is a block upgrade to the MIDS JTRS CMN-4 Terminal provides an Internet Protocol-based networking capability on tactical aircraft. TTNT is a low latency, high throughput waveform that has the capability to support data exchange between fast-moving tactical aircraft, weapons, and unmanned aircraft, in addition to air, land, and sea-based command and control nodes, in a variety of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions including time sensitive targeting, air warfare, close air support, non-traditional ISR, and anti-surface warfare. TTNT capability integration into the MIDS JTRS directly supports Naval Integrated Fire Control (NIFC) capability requirements. These capabilities provide Joint Airborne Network-Tactical Edge functionality to run advanced mission applications in a cross-platform/cross-domain tactical network enterprise.

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Document Details

Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2020
Source ID
3020_0205604N_7_1319_PB_2020

Tags

Readers

  • Naval Mine Countermeasure Systems Development.
  • Tactical Satellite Communications Systems Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs
  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
  • Space

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