New radio software promises improved access to military satellites.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

Radio manufacturers this year will offer to their military customers a new application that will provide easier connections to communication satellites.

The satcom integrated waveform (satcom IW) will ease the burden being placed on overtaxed ultra-high frequency (UHF) satellites, which are the military's primary means of transmitting secure communications worldwide.

Thales Communications Inc. and Harris Corp., two of the largest providers of radio gear to the U.S. military, are both in the process of receiving certifications to integrate satcom IW software into their respective handheld radios. Raytheon Co. and ViaSat Inc. are among the other vendors working with satcom IW.

Communicating directly with satellites has become more crucial in recent years as the war in Afghanistan has placed dismounted troops in canyons and other areas where line-of-sight communications with ground stations is difficult.

These same troops also want to lighten the amount of equipment they must carry. Thales executives said the waveform, which can be added to the company's software-defined handheld radios, will result in weight savings.

Currently, dismounted units must carry a separate radio to talk through a satellite, said Walt Hepker, vice president of business development at Thales.

"Now they don't have to carry that extra 15 pounds," he said. "Our putting the IW in the handheld radio is lightening the soldier's load and increasing his capability with the equipment he already knows how to use and has on hand."

Software defined radios, as opposed to the more common analog communication gear, allow manufacturers to add different functions without having to alter the hardware.

"It's like adding new applications to a computer, which is an overused analogy because it is nowhere near that simple to port a waveform onto a joint tactical radio system," Hepker said.

The JTRS program was launched in the late 1990s to bring software-defined communications gear to the military. There are five programs of record, one of which is the handheld, manpack and small form fit class of radios. The military's ultimate goal is to have devices that will allow it to create ad hoc networks, move encrypted intelligence data such as images around the battlefield, and install new applications into terminals as they come along.

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Some of the JTRS terminals have been beset by technical delays. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of the single channel ground and airborne...