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6 mars 2015 5 06 /03 /mars /2015 08:20
AN-PRC-155 Manpack - source GD

AN-PRC-155 Manpack - source GD

 

March 5, 2015: Strategy Page

 

In January the U.S. launched the third (of four) MUOS (Mobile User Objective System) communications satellites. As a result about 70 percent of earth’s surface is now covered by the new MUOS military communications system. MUOS gives military users cell-phone-like capabilities anywhere in the world. Eventually four MUOS communications satellites operating in 36,000 kilometer stationary (geosynchronous) orbits will provide superior satellite phone service worldwide. This will also include encrypted communications that will work despite being in forests or most buildings. In effect, MUOS can replace cell phone towers in any area on the planet once the signals from one of the four satellites are aimed at the area of operations. The complete system is supposed to be active by 2016. The first satellite went up in early 2014. The four ground stations (one for each satellite) are in Sicily, North America, Hawaii, and Australia.

 

Yet sometimes newer isn’t better. Such was the case with trying to get the infantry to give up their existing PRC-117/150 manpack (carried) radio for the new MUOS compatible PRC-155 radio. “PRC” means “portable radio,” and while the PRC radios have been getting lighter since World War II (when they weighed more than twice as much as the PRC-155), range and interference remained a problem. Thus although the PRC-155 had lots of neat new features field tests brought forth lots of complaints from potential users (infantry who have to carry and use the PRC-155). For starters the PRC-155 weighs 50-100 percent more than the older models. It has less than half the range (three kilometers versus seven) and the batteries last only six hours (versus over 30), The PRC is subject to overheating and the user interface is considered inferior.

 

The 6.4 kg (14 pounds, one third of that is batteries) PRC-155 radios are used in vehicles and carried by infantry. This is the latest vehicle/manpack radio design and is replacing the PRC-150, which were widely adopted in the last decade, initially by SOCOM (Special Operations Command). The army wants to buy over 50,000 of them. The big selling point for the PRC-155 is MUOS upgrade kits (some additional hardware and software). Most of PRC-155s will have the MUOS add-on kit. With this kit the PRC-155 is equipped to provide Internet-like capabilities on the battlefield and MUOS gives access to a world-wide net. This is a big deal for ground troops because existing radios often had their range greatly reduced by terrain (hills or many tall buildings) or weather (electric disturbances high up). A satellite link eliminates this problem and ground troops have been asking for this for a long time. Sat links are still expensive and a rationed resource.

 

But when the infantry were asked to try out the PRC-155 many concluded that the negatives were not worth it. Moreover the delays in getting the PRC-155 to the troops forced the military to seek out an off-the-shelf design (the AN/PRC-117G) in the 1990s. This is a 5.45 kg (12 pound) radio that can be carried or installed in vehicles. About a third of its weight is the battery. It has a maximum output of 20 watts and handles FM, UHF, and VHF signals, including satellite based communications. On the ground max range is 20 kilometers (depending on hills and the antenna used). These cost about $40,000 each. There is an improved AN/PRC-117G (the MNVR) that cost $56,000 each. That includes development costs (for the wish list of tweaks and upgrades the military wants). The U.S. has been using the AN/PRC-117 since the late 1990s as an interim radio and found it a solid piece of equipment.

 

The AN/PRC-117 is based on a commercial design (the Falcon series) that several foreign armed forces and many civilian operations use. The AN/PRC-117 has been regularly upgraded in that time (going from version A to the current G). The upgraded Falcon (PRC-150) appealed to SOCOM (Special Operations Command) which proceeded to buy half a billion dollars' worth of AN/PRC-150 radios. These cost about $2,500 each and all of them were delivered on schedule. The 4.6 kg (ten pounds, without batteries) radios are very flexible (are used in vehicles or backpacks) and are able to use several different types of transmission (including bouncing signals off the ionosphere, for longer range or just to get a signal out of a built up area). Digital transmissions allow for data to get through under poor atmospheric conditions or when in a built up area. The radios also have good encryption and the ability to send and receive all forms of digital data. These radios are also now used by the army.

 

A similar situation occurred back in the 1990s, when SOCOM realized it needed a new personal radio for its troops and an army “new radio technology” program (JTRS) was supposed to take care of that but did not. Rather than wait SOCOM got together with a radio manufacturer, told them what they needed, and within two years they had MBITR (which soon got official sanction as AN/PRC-148). When the rest of the army saw MBITR many troops bought them with their own money. After Iraq army units began buying the AN/PRC-148 on their own. Soon, over 100,000 MBITR radios were in use.

 

Some elements of the JTRS (which was cancelled in 2011) survived in the form of radios like the PRC-155. While this radio was acceptable for use in vehicles, it did not make it when troops had to carry it. The military is determined to make the PRC-155 work. By early 2015 about 1,200 PRC-155s have been delivered to the U.S. Army for troop use. Now that three MUOS birds are up there American soldiers in most parts of the world can actually sample the advantages of the PRC-155, along with the disadvantages they already know about.

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22 janvier 2015 4 22 /01 /janvier /2015 07:20
Third Lockheed Martin-Built MUOS Secure Communications Satellite Launched and Responding to Commands

The U.S. Navy's third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS-3) satellite launched at 8:04 p.m. EST tonight aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.

 

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., Jan. 20, 2015Lockheed Martin

 

The third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy is now responding to commands after being launched here today. An initialization team, led by the company, is operating the MUOS-3 satellite from the Naval Satellite Operations Center located at the Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, California.

The MUOS satellite constellation operates like a smart phone network in the sky, vastly improving current secure mobile satellite communications for warfighters on the move. Unlike previous systems, MUOS provides users an on-demand, beyond-line-of-sight capability to transmit and receive high-quality, prioritized voice and mission data, on a high-speed Internet Protocol-based system.

“Thanks to the Atlas team for the safe delivery of MUOS-3 into our Geosynchronous Transfer orbit,” said Iris Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications at Lockheed Martin. “We look forward to completing our on-orbit health checks and delivering this important asset to the U.S. Navy. The addition of this satellite will give the MUOS constellation coverage over more than three-quarters of the globe, further extending the reach of the advanced communications capabilities MUOS will provide our mobile warfighters.”

MUOS-3 launched at 8:04 p.m. EST aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and will transition over the next nine days to reach its geosynchronous orbit location 22,000 miles above the Earth. The solar arrays and antennas will then be deployed, and on-orbit testing will start for subsequent turn-over to the Navy for test and commissioning to service.

Earlier today, before the MUOS launch, Lockheed Martin employees visited six classrooms totaling about 280 seventh and eighth-graders at nearby Ronald McNair Magnet Middle School in Rockledge, Florida, to demonstrate important principles of space engineering through a hands-on activity and to encourage science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Six members of the school’s science department and faculty later attended the launch viewing.

MUOS is the Navy’s next generation secure mobile satellite communications system which will eventually replace the legacy Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Follow-On system. MUOS satellites have two payloads to ensure access to UHF narrowband communications as well as new capabilities. MUOS’ advanced Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) payload incorporates commercial technology and a new waveform to provide users priority-based capacity.

Once fully operational, MUOS will provide 16 times the capacity of the legacy system. More than 50,000 terminals that are in the field today can be retro-fitted with WCDMA.

Prior to its launch, the MUOS-3 satellite was built at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, California, manufacturing facility. The satellite was shipped to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 5, and encapsulated into its launch fairing on Dec. 18.

The MUOS constellation is expected to provide warfighters full global coverage before the end of 2015. MUOS-1 and MUOS-2, launched respectively in 2012 and 2013, are already operational and providing high-quality voice communications. MUOS-4 is on track to launch later this year. The fourth and final required MUOS ground station also is expected to be delivered to the Navy early this year.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, California, is the MUOS prime contractor and system integrator. The Navy's Program Executive Office for Space Systems and its Communications Satellite Program Office, San Diego, California, are responsible for the MUOS program.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

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18 janvier 2015 7 18 /01 /janvier /2015 08:20
U.S. Navy Poised to Launch Lockheed Martin-Built MUOS-3 Secure Communications Satellite

 

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., Jan. 16, 2015Lockheed Martin

 

The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin are ready to launch the third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite, MUOS-3, here on Tuesday, Jan. 20 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The launch window is between 7:43 p.m. and 8:27 p.m. EST.

A live launch broadcast will begin at 7:23 p.m. EST and will be accessible via the United Launch Alliance webcast. Click here for the live launch broadcast and webcast details.
 
MUOS operates like a smart phone network in the sky, vastly improving current secure mobile satellite communications for warfighters on the move. Unlike previous systems, MUOS provides users an on-demand, beyond-line-of-sight capability to transmit and receive high-quality, prioritized voice and mission data, on a high-speed Internet Protocol-based system.

“The launch of MUOS-3, and the near-term certification of our fourth and final Radio Access Facility, brings us to the brink of the global coverage we anticipate for MUOS communications. This government and contractor team knows how important this capability is for our protectors in harm’s way,” said Iris Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications at Lockheed Martin. “To deliver a satellite like MUOS is no small task and the team worked around the clock and through every holiday. We are honored to do so, because we know that our warfighters never stop in their own mission to keep us safe.”

Replacing the legacy Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Follow-On system, MUOS satellites have two payloads to ensure access to UHF narrowband communications as well as new capabilities. MUOS’ advanced Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) payload incorporates commercial technology and a new waveform to provide users priority-based capacity. Once fully operational, MUOS will provide 16 times the capacity of the legacy system. More than 50,000 terminals that are in the field today can be retro-fitted with WCDMA.

The MUOS-3 satellite was built at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, California manufacturing facility. The satellite was shipped to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 5, and encapsulated into its launch fairing on Dec. 18.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, California, is the MUOS prime contractor and system integrator. The Navy’s Program Executive Office for Space Systems and its Communications Satellite Program Office, San Diego, California, are responsible for the MUOS program.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

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25 mars 2014 2 25 /03 /mars /2014 17:20
Harris’s Falcon III radio completes interoperability testing with MUOS

 

 

21 March 2014 naval-technology.com

 

Harris's Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radio, hosting the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform, has successfully completed initial interoperability testing.

 

The test, conducted at the Joint Tactical Networking Center MUOS Reference Implementation Laboratory in San Diego, California, US, demonstrated interoperability with the addition of MUOS software to AN/PRC-117G radios, without modification from their standard hardware configurations.

 

The US Navy's MUOS is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system capable of enhancing ground communications for US forces on the move.

 

In addition to providing cellular-based service through tactical radios, the MUOS offers more communications capability for military users over existing systems, including simultaneous voice, video and data - similar to the capabilities experienced today with smart phones.

"Simple software upgrades will bring MUOS to more than 30,000 AN/PRC-117G radios already in use, giving the DoD the most cost-effective solution for rapidly transitioning its tactical satellite radio inventory to support this important new capability."

 

Harris RF Communications Department of Defense business president George Helm said that the company is rapidly delivering on its commitment to provide the MUOS waveform in AN/PRC-117G tactical radios.

 

"Simple software upgrades will bring MUOS to more than 30,000 AN/PRC-117G radios already in use, giving the DoD the most cost-effective solution for rapidly transitioning its tactical satellite radio inventory to support this important new capability," Helm added.

 

In order to provide a new and more capable UHF military satellite communication system, the MUOS uses a commercial 3G Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) cellular technology with geosynchronous satellites.

 

A new round of tests of the AN/PRC-117G is scheduled to commence at the US government MUOS system integration labs in Arizona, US.

 

Last year, the radio successfully completed separate on-air tests in San Diego and near the North Pole.

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4 juillet 2013 4 04 /07 /juillet /2013 12:20
The second satellite of the Mobile User Objective System will enable mobile users to communicate securely using smartphone-like features

The second satellite of the Mobile User Objective System will enable mobile users to communicate securely using smartphone-like features

Jul 03, 2013 (SPX)

 

Cape Canaveral AFS FL - . The second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy was encapsulated into its payload fairing yesterday. It is scheduled to launch July 19 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle.

 

The MUOS constellation replaces the legacy Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Follow-On system and delivers secure, prioritized voice and data communications, a first for mobile users who need high-speed mission data on the go.

 

The first MUOS satellite, launched in 2012, has been providing high quality legacy voice communications for users, and terminals are already testing using the advanced payload that enables data exchanges.

 

More than 20,000 existing terminals are compatible with and can access the MUOS legacy UHF payload, and with the release of the new waveform developed for increased data-handling capacity, many of these terminals could be retro-fitted to access the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) payload.

 

This advanced WCDMA payload incorporates commercial technology designed to provide 16 times the number of accesses as the legacy UHF Follow-On system that it replaces.

 

The geosynchronous constellation consists of four satellites and one on-orbit spare, which are expected to achieve full operational capability in 2015, extending UHF narrowband communications availability well past 2025.

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