Comms Between Partners
The Global War on Terror Will Be
One by Partnerships Among Nations.
The U.S. and Its Warrior Partners Must Be
Able to Communicate on the Battlefield.
by Adam Baddeley
Special operators have access to the most advanced communications technology available of the battlefield. Many of the counter-insurgent and counter-terrorist battles now being fought on the ground, by both SOF and the conventional Army and Marines require them not to operate alone, but to support and fight alongside local forces in developing countries. Communications technology has long been accepted as a force multiplier and the U.S. is now investing to extend its benefits to those allies.
To that end existing combat net radio (CNR) stocks amongst military, paramilitary and police forces—if they exist— are being modernized, supplemented or replaced wholesale, improving communication links with U.S. forces. For reason of security, cost and training, complex Type 1 CNRs like SINCGARS, AN/PRC-148 MBITR, AN/PRC-117F or AN/PRC-150(c) are inappropriate for the allied user and to meet this market a range of alternative radios are being fielded which also provide a level of interoperability with existing inservice U.S. systems.
To meet the market for non-Type 1 solutions, L-3 Communications Linkabit have developed the WAVpac multiband Software Defined Radio (SDR). Operating over 1.6-108 MHz it enabled BLOS communications in HF 1.6-30 MHz as well as full military band VHF 30-108MHz, supporting throughput of up to 16 Kbps. While an SDR, the radio does not use the Joint Tactical Radio Systems Software Communications Architecture 2.2.
“WAVpac is not a Type 1 radio,” explained Irwin Morse, director product management at L-3 Linkabit. “It’s meant for non-NATO forces. Encryption is done with AES 128, 192 or 256 bit.” Interoperability would be enabled with similarly equipped communications systems via a re-established and shared key. Other international standards have been instantiated in the SDR’s operating system including LPC-10e, STANAG 4591 MELP or CVSD for digital voice. For high frequency, the 20W WAVpac uses second generation MIL-STD-188-141B Automatic Link Establishment (ALE), which is compatible with the more recent third generation ALE now commonly used in U.S. HF combat net radios such as the AN/PRC-150(C).
Thus far, a number of non-military U.S. government agencies have acquired the radio explained Morse. A move is now on to pursue FMS exports. Morse continued, “We have demonstrated WAVpac to CECOM but that market typically had long lead times and we are waiting for more to happen on that.”
The State Department has cleared a number of exports for overseas demonstrations of the radio including a former Soviet Union country. Recently a demonstration license was granted for NATO end-user countries.
Those countries that already have access to Type 1 –even the United States’ closest allies have also expressed interest in the radio according to Morse. He said, “There are actually special uses where they don’t require Type 1 for some of their forces and they have been talking to us about the WAVpac.”
Additional technical developments are underway. Morse said, “This year the main emphasis has been on better understanding transit case-based transportable base station and vehicle implementation of the system. We have also been integrating a third-party coupler that we will be marketing under our name and a new, rationalized power distribution unit that will make it much easier and more suited to the environment.”
Additional capabilities are planned giving alternative BLOS [beyond light of sight] capabilities, with input from potential customers. Irwin said, “We’ve talked about swapping off the appliqué box, which contains the radio’s amplifier and tuning network, and doing UHF satcom. We’ve considered X-band satcom too, but haven’t gone down that path, as we had more interests in UHF.”
While UHF satcom is one BLOS solution, one much more in demand is high frequency communications, typically provided in a dedicated CNR.
“We have had a lot of success with the Codan 2110 HF manpack radio series,” explains Andrew Sheppard, vice-president, military and security division, “That has been sold in large numbers in Afghanistan and Iraq through the FMS Program. The key requirement was the ability to provide effective HF communications to both Iraq and Afghan land forces without paying a premium price. The user critically needed an HF radio system fit for purpose, simple to use, reliable and rugged.”
Although the selection process was lengthy, once the contract was signed, the first batches of radios were in place six to eight weeks after the contract was concluded. Codan’s ability to quickly deliver radio systems was a key element in their selection.
Further business is being pursued in both countries as well as other FMS theaters.
A specifically militarized version of the 2110 series, the 2110M, is the company’s latest offering, with several hundred systems being sold in July 2008 within the African market. The main difference between the two is the inclusion of frequency hopping and an internal MIL-STD-188-110B data modem in the 2110M. The 2110M is also MIL-STD-810F compliant and includes a full range of military specified ancillaries including antenna tuners, digital voice encryption, data terminals, a 125-watt high-power amplifier, as well as docking hardware for vehicle and base stations.
As a nexus of interoperability with U.S. forces, both radios operate the U.S. Mil-STD 188-141B Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) standard which has been JITC certified, explained Sheppard. “Critical to today’s requirements is that we can interoperate with other ALE networks currently in service with coalition forces. End users want cost-effective HF systems and may have some legacy radios already but may not be able to afford to buy more. We can segment into that as a separate layer providing interoperability with existing networks using 141B.”
Lachlan Flint, product manager for the 2110M explained the road map ahead. “The key objective for Codan is to leverage its success in the commercial HF markets and apply that expertise to emerging military and security requirements. One example is a capability developed that supports real time status interrogation of individual HF radio nodes within a deployed network. This capability effectively supports an over-theair engineering channel allowing an HF net controller to centrally manage a network; this capability is unique to the tactical radio market.”
Codan has historically had a strong presence supplying HF solutions to the UN, NGO and commercial markets, and the company is starting to address the military and security markets in earnest. The company believes significant requirements exist between the traditional combat net radio and civil authority segments.
Sheppard explained, “Codan has a real edge because we are building on our successful existing HF business and applying that model to the military and security markets, bringing highly reliable, built-for-purpose radios to users with extremely fast delivery and outstanding product support. When you analyze what military and internal security users need from an HF radio, you find that the tasks are exactly the type that the 2110 manpack provides, but in a more of an offthe- shelf package, and one that can interoperate with radios from other suppliers. This means the end user is getting a much more cost-effective radio solution with the right level of capability for its purpose.”
Datron has supplied a number of its radios to the Afghan National Army. This began with the supply of over 300 systems via the Office of Military Co-operation in Afghanistan. In December 2004, CECOM contracted Datron for several thousand more following a competitive bid process, with deliveries beginning in April 2005, supplying the company’s PRC1077 manpack and handheld PRC1060 VHF and PRC1099A man pack and RF7000 fixed/mobile HF radios, which replaced Soviet R123 and R130 radios as well as U.S. PRC-77s.
CNRs equip only a small portion of the personnel within a unit and operated by trained signallers. Increasingly, however communications are being extended to every member of a squad via individual soldier radio. This poses different and particular challenges to provide that capability to the least educated and the least sophisticated allies.
Wes Gilson, president of Selex Communications Inc, responsible for the AN/PRC- 343 Personal Role Radio (PRR) said, “One thing we tend to forget when we take products to other countries is that many of users can’t read and write in their native language. It does no good to give them something that requires extensive training to operate— there’s no way that they can look at the manual. The PRR is simple; there is volume control, channel control and a push to talk button. That is it. Training is not required. That’s all the user needs to know. The PRR is also the least expensive, most cost effective radio of its kind. One reason for which is that there is also almost no logistical drag. It only takes two AA batteries.”
Simplification of operation and logistics in the PRR is also extended to spectrum management. “When you think of the range of any given radio and antenna combination I think of two concentric circles,” explained Gilson. “The inner one is the range at which you can effectively communicate and the outer one is the range at which you can still interfere with people trying to reuse the same frequency.” For this reason, the PRR has opted to operate in the 2.4 GHz band to enable users to operate closer together. “By putting its UHF frequency almost at the upper scale of the UHF band, by putting it so high in the UHF band and by reducing the power output to 50mW or 100mW you really don’t have too much of a footprint in terms of the RF spectrum.”
Over 300,000 PRRs has been acquired by over 30 countries including over 30,000 in U.S. service with the Army, Air Force and Marines. The AN/PRC-343A is a straightforward radio, for users to communicate between two PRRs they need only switch between the 256 available channels. The basic model has no encryption, relying instead on its short range and spread spectrum technology to hide signals in the ether that aid interoperability among multinational users. Gilson said, “If the mission of that radio is to go to the individual soldier all the way down at the bottom rung of the organizational ladder, then clearly you want to maximize interoperability and minimize administrative and logistical overhead.”
To meet the individual requirements of soldiers the United States has acquired a number of land mobile radios (LMR). Lack of survivability Gilson believes means that the experimentation that the military did with LMR will at some point come to an end in favor of full military radios. Discussing LMRs he commented. “I had one for a while I was stationed in Iraq. It broke almost immediately. The feedback I’ve received from my buddies is that the LMRs break all the time; they last 3-6 months in the desert. If you compare that with the AN/ PRC-343, the U.S. Army 75th Ranger Regiment bought 3,000, and they have only had to replace somewhere in the order of 100 over the past three years. Even though LMRs are rugged for a police type radio, it is not rugged compared to a Selex, Harris, ITT or Thales military radio.” ♦