Strategic jammers and electronic-warfare (EW) systems often make communications between ground-based forces and aircraft difficult. Techniques such as frequency-hopping radios and redundancy in data links can help to overcome jammers and interference. On that front, unique tracking antennas with two different, simultaneous frequency bands developed by Persistent Systems automatically switch between the two frequency bands for the best possible ground-to-air communications in spite of the interference.
The novel dual-band tracking antennas (see figure) support air-to-ground Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) transmissions. Persistent Systems, a mainstay in mobile ad-hoc networking (MANET), developed the multi-band tracking antennas for RF- and GPS-denied environments to enable dependable C4ISR communications even amidst jamming and EW signal sources. The antennas automatically select the best frequency band for communications between ground forces and manned and/or unmanned aircraft.
Ben Wring, Senior Program Engineer at Persistent Systems, said, “This is a game-changer. Now connectivity is maintained even when an enemy is actively denying us access to GPS. The tracking system remains locked onto the aircraft and mission data continues to flow without disruption.”
The tracking antenna system can mount two MPU5 MANET radios, each operating on a different RF band, automatically selecting the radio with the best performance to overcome jammers or interference.
Wring added, “By operating on multiple RF bands, you can communicate through adversarial interference. Whether they deny GPS or attack our transmission directly, the system will maintain connectivity.”
The antenna system is supplied with a single multi-band/multi-polarity antenna feed, with a single feed covering L-, S-, and C-band frequencies. The feed also has independent horizontally and vertically polarized inputs, enabling polarization diversity and maximizing multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) radio capacity.