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CONSIDER4TIONS FOR NATO SATELLXE COMMUNICATIONS
IN THE POST-2000 ERA
1.The National Delegates bnrd of AGARD. upon
recommendation by the Avlonics Panel of AGARO, spprovea in
March 1986 ths establishment of WG-13 to study satdllite
communicdtions for NATO under the direction of Prof. Or Nejat
lnoq of Turkey.
2.9me 14 scientists/engineers. from research Rnd indudrial
establishments of Canada, France, The Federal Republik of
Germany. Noway, Turkey. the United Kingdom. the United
States of America as wnll as from International Military Staff of
NATO and SHAPE Technical Centre, participated,in the work of
WG 13.
3.This paper 1s a brief summary'
of the studies carried out by the group in the
period 1988-1990 on the type of satellite Communication
systems which NATO can have in the post-2000 era including
the critical techniques and technologiea that need lo be
developed fcr this purpose
I
4 In accordance with the Terms of &lerence.the Group
considered a time period beyond NATO N and other natidnal
systems now In the implementation or planning stage, wthh
would cover a time span of 20-30 years, i.e 2CCO-2030 It was
recognized the1 the earlier part of this period would be
constrained by the eristing and planned assets but the later
oart would be. and should be, more technology-driven the
following assumptions are made which take into accolmt
perceived trends and desirable attributes for future SATCOM
systems:
I) The area of interest for NATO will remain as is to-day end
will include the polar region
li) The use of SATCOM will be more pervasive particulerly
for small mobile users (aircratt. land-mobile. ships And
submerged submarines) to 6 ~pporC general purpose dnd
modern 0 1 structures.
SATCOM will be integrated with the future ISDN networKs
now being planned and implemented In the nations dnd
NATO. This may require SATCOM to have ImproJed
effective performance 4th respect to such parameters as
delay and echo.
lv)Yhe need for increased survivability against bolh physical
and jamming threat will continue.
v)The use of frequencies In the EHF and optical bands lor
greater capability (e.g. AJ capability and communicatidns
with submerged submarine?) and smaller terminals hre
foreseen.
d)The future SATCOM systems will be required to be
cheaper and more affordable.
vll) Thoro wlll be the usual need for interoperabllity.
5.The Group agreed that the above attributes could be taken as
inputs and goals for the system architectures lo be developed
for a future NATO SATCOM. In fact. these attributes were
derivsd from the deficiencies of the present system which is
no1 flexible enough with resped to growth In capacity and
capabllity. and has a high degree of electronic end physical
. . ,
by
A. Nejat Ince
Marmara Scientific and Industrial
Research Center
EO. Box 2 I
51470 Gchzc-Kmaeli
Turkey
14-1
vulnerability dind does nM provide communications for the
polar region ' and submerged submarines. TRe system
development.."in the past has been based on successive
discrete mstqh in capability and spending and each
procuremih'?as contained an important cost element of R&D.
Thsre has been R minimum of joint national RAD and use of
the NATO system which resulted. among other things, in
considerable interoperability problems.
It was agreed that what was required for the coming decades
which may be characterized by 'uncertainty' and "shrinking
military budgets" was a very flexible. modular SATCOM system
whose communication capacity and resilience to ECM and
physical threat can be modified when operational requirements
change, however, without having to undertake excessive RBD
and total replacement of the space segment.
6.For the development of system architectures to achieve
flexible and highly cost-effective SATCOM optioris for NATO. a
technical survey has been made and information collected on
the satellite system concepts being considered nationally
(Canada. France. FRG. UK and USA) and internationally (ESA.
Intelsat. Eutelsat. INMARSAT) for both civil and military
applications as well as on related technological R&O activities
and operational aspects regarding threat and environmental
factors such as propagation and the usage of frequency
spectrum.
7.TLe status of the follovring lechniques/technologies and
conrapls which appear feasible and exploitable by future
SATCOM systems and whicli are consequently being
investigated nationally and internationally have been described
in the report:
i) multi.beam/phased-array antennas with adaptive spatial
nulling and multiple transmit spot beams,
ii) ECCM techniques,
iii) flexible and programmable on-board signal processing
and switching techniques and devices.
iv) multi-frequency payloads.
v) multi-satellite systems to create spatial uncertainty for the
enemy.
vi) USP of tethers in space,
vii) laser and millimetre-wave communications. .for
inter-satellite links,
viii) blue-green lasercorn for submerged submarines,
Ix)application of superconductivity. aflificial Intelligence.
neural networks. robotics and of space-borne
computers/r~ftware for slgnal processing and for manual
and autonomous control of spatial and terrestrial
resources.
x)power generation in space,
xi) spacecraft propulsion systems,
xii) launch vehicles and space transportations.
xiii) nuclear effects and hardening techniques.
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