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It’s Time to Change the Way We Refer to
SHF Satellite Communications
What’s the flavor of your SHF SATCOM?
By Lt. Jason J. Hughes
a shipboard perspective, we
frOm can no longer strictly refer
to super high frequency satellite communications
as simply defense satellite
communications system (dscs) and
commercial broadband satellite Program
(cbsP) operations. the lines between the
bands for which dscs and cbsP have
traditionally operated have blurred due to
employment of new military and commercial
satellites and the installation of new
multi-spectrum capable shipboard terminals
with high data rates. therefore, we
must change the way in which we refer to
these services in communications spot
reports (cOmsPOt) to ensure there is no
ambiguity or confusion between providers
and customers when working to establish
and activate these links or when working
to restore lost services.
In this case, the providers are the naval
computer and telecommunications Area
master station Atlantic and its subordinate
and partner organizations. nctAms lAnt
provides secure and reliable classified and
unclassified, voice, messaging, video and
data telecommunications to its customers:
surface, subsurface, air and ground forces
in support of command, control, communications,
computers and intelligence
(c4I) for real-world operations and exercises
and to u.s. naval, joint and coalition
operating forces worldwide.
uhf versus shf
the narrowband ultra high frequency
portion of the radio frequency spectrum
has been referred to over the years as
the “workhorse” of joint and naval communications;
however, the demands and
services we leverage on our sHf communications
today brings into question which
is truly the current workhorse of our navy.
through this vital wideband link, afloat
units gain access to email, web browsing,
chat rooms, message traffic, business
systems database replication, file transfers
and Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone
service, and all through connection to the
nIPrnet, sIPrnet, Joint worldwide Intelligence
communications system (JwIcs),
26 CHIPS • OCtOber - DeCember 2012
secure telephones, video teleconferencing,
video teletraining, telemedicine/
medical imagery, national primary image
dissemination, intelligence database/tactical
imagery, and more. so which part of
the spectrum, uHf or sHf, could you live
without for an extended period of time
while deployed on a ship? most communicators
would probably put more emphasis
on restoration of wideband links rather
than narrowband links today.
In the past, the fleet received its sHf
sAtcOm from three distinct services.
force level for carriers and multipurpose
amphibious assault ships and group level
for cruisers and guided missile destroyers
accessed the defense satellite communications
system with the An/wsc-6
sAtcOm terminal to a dscs III service
life extension Program (sleP) satellite that
operated strictly in the X-band portion of
the rf spectrum, for at most a t1 (1.544
megabytes per second (mbps) to e1 (2.048
mbps) data rate.
most unit level access for frigates, mine
countermeasures and coastal patrol ships
accessed commercial Inmarsat satellite
service with an Inmarsat terminal that
operates strictly in the l-band portion of
the rf spectrum, for nothing more than
a 64 to 128 kilobyte per second (Kbps)
data rate. force level ships also had the
ability to make use of commercial satellites
for greater bandwidth up to 4 mbps
through the commercial wideband satellite
Program (cwsP) accessing service
through an An/wsc-8 sAtcOm terminal
to a commercial satellite that operated
strictly in the c-band portion of the rf
spectrum. during these times it was fairly
clear to all stakeholders what exactly was
meant when a unit was "down" on dscs
or cwsP.
the initial launch of the wideband
global satellite system in 2007, the
replacement for the defense satellite
communications system III sleP satellites,
brought significant additional capacity to
dscs. In fact, one wgs satellite has about
the same capacity as 10 dscs III sleP
satellites.
the wgs satellites will complement the
dscs III sleP and global broadcast server
(gbs) payloads and offset the eventual
decline in dscs III capability. the wgs
system is a constellation of highly capable
military communications satellites. wgs
space vehicles (sVs) are the department
of defense’s highest capacity satellites.
each wgs satellite provides service in
both the X and Ka frequency bands, with
the unprecedented ability to cross-band
between the two frequencies onboard the
satellite.
wgs supplements X-band communications,
provided by the defense satellite
communications system and augments
the one-way gbs service through new
two-way Ka-band service. these sAtcOm
improvements have enabled the ability to
assign a force level ship upwards of a single
8-megabyte sHf link or two 6-megabyte
sHf links; however, the Ka-band is
more susceptible to weather interference
much as links operating in the extremely
high frequency (eHf) spectrum.
terminal advances
the navy has long used the An/wsc-6
sAtcOm terminal for sHf services. the
An/wsc-6(V)9 terminal installed on many
guided missile destroyers enables the
ability to also operate in the commercial
c-band with a feed horn change out. A
feed horn, horn or microwave horn is an
antenna that consists of a flaring metal
waveguide shaped like a horn to direct radio
waves in a beam. the latest versions of
the An/wsc-6, f(V)9 and g(V)9 terminals
allow simultaneous X and Ka-band operation.
therefore, it is possible for a unit to
be up on the X-band and down on the Kaband;
hence, the statement of a unit being
down on dscs leaves too much ambiguity
as to whether a ship is up or down on sHf
services.
In 2008, the u.s. navy communications
Program Office, under the Program
executive Office for c4I, initiated the
commercial broadband satellite Program
to acquire commercial sAtcOm operating
in the c-band, commercial X, Ku, and pos-