WHITE SANDS, N.M., July 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has been flying aerostat blimps and Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles configured with Joint Tactical Radio Systems.
The unmanned aircraft systems are being used to extend a mobile, ad-hoc line-of-sight network able to pass voice, video, data and images across the force in real time, service officials said.
"The aerial layer is working well. It increases the range of the WNW (Wideband Networking Waveform) and SRW (Soldier Radio Waveform) waveforms and expands the overall network," said U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Hoyle, program manager for JTRS Network Enterprise Domain.
The Aerostat blimps being used in the Network Integration Evaluation are carrying a four-channel, software-programmable JTRS Ground Mobile Radio as well as two-channel JTRS Handheld Manpack Small radios.
The Shadow UAS are engineered to carry single-channel JTRS Rifleman Radios.
The idea is to expand a terrestrial, JTRS-based communications network by adding aerial nodes designed to extend the ability to relay information across farther distances through line-of-sight connections.
The software-programmable JTRS radios, which can make use of encryption to safeguard information, are built to send IP packets of data, voice, video and images via multiple waveforms between static command centers, vehicles on-the-move and even dismounted individual soldiers on patrol.
Part of the rationale for JTRS technology is to afford battlefield communications in an austere environment where satellite technology might not always be available, the Army said.
Non-proprietary wideband networking waveforms such as SRW WNW, which use a larger portion of the available spectrum than legacy waveforms to transmit information, are key to the development of JTRS technology.
Both SRW and WNW have the ability to seamlessly route and retransmit information. SRW is targeted for the individual soldier, individual small units and sensors; WNW can move information longer distances and is designed for technologies such as Aerostat blimps and mobile command posts.
