Architectural Trends in Military Satellite Communications Systems
Abstract
Military communication via satellites has grown rapidly in the past 20 years. During this period, military systems have progressed through a family of increasingly more capable satellites and have arrived at a very mature state. The article begins with a historical overview of military communications by satellite and a detailed description of current systems. Next, the capabilities of present systems are reviewed in relation to user requirements and threats. The author contends that use of satellite communications by a large number of small-terminal users (e.g., aircraft, ships, submarines, and land mobiles) still requires major technological innovations to meet the need for a substantial increase in system capacity and performance improvement in a jamming environment. High-gain satellite antennas with many simultaneous spot beams and onboard signal processing are the two important areas of technology for alleviating the shortcomings of present systems. While it is possible to implement these features at ultrahigh frequencies and superhigh frequencies, the desire to support communications in a stressed environment strongly favors the use of even higher frequencies. The next-generation systems of the 1990s are reviewed with an emphasis on extremely high frequency systems and architectural trends for the post-2000 era. Alternative directions for future systems development, such as the use of highly proliferated satellite constellations, also are explored. (11 figures, 8 refs.)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA425230
Entities
People
- Pravin C. Jain
Organizations
- Defense Information Systems Agency