iPads, iPhones driving special operator demand for improved connectivity.

• Position: Special Ops

* The battlefield video collected by military drones is in such high demand that it is colloquially called Predator porn and soda-straw crack, among other names. No matter the slang, troops want the footage streaming live onto the smallest device possible wherever they may be.

Special operators are no different, except their demands are more challenging.

"We have a lot of guys who are used to having pretty amazing capabilities. They can get good services on iPad or iPhone. They want that speed and quality of service and availability everywhere they do business," said Tony Davis, program executive officer for command and control, communications and computers at U.S. Special Operations Command. "It's a lot easier to say that than to do it."

The challenge lies not only in controlling and communicating with unmanned aircraft but capturing the video and piping it to analysts and operators who are not within line of sight of the drone.

The program office has purchased a number of laptop computers and handheld devices that allow operators to receive the video stream. "But you have to be in sight of a Predator or Reaper to get video from them," said Davis. "That means a large portion of people who need the video can't get it unless I bring it back into the architecture and project back out to them."

Most of the UAS in the field today have vendor-specific source code in the data stream between the aircraft and the ground control station. That makes it much more difficult for non-line-of-sight users to tap into the video.

Some UAS manufacturers are incorporating non-line-of-sight capability into new aircraft so that they can send a signal directly to a satellite, which then transmits the data back to analysis centers in the United States for processing. "Once it's out of the line-of-sight arena, it's easy for us to pull it into the network and send it forward across a tactical satellite linked to a team," said...