Radio Repurposed Reaping The Benefits of RF Technology

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Radio repurposed: Reaping the benefits of

RF technology
Date Posted: 05-May-2016
Publication: Jane's International Defence Review
Modern military systems leverage RF technology in tasks that far exceed its early
applications. The IDR team examines some of the roles in which it is being applied and
explore the challenges in managing the technology
Across all domains - air, land, and sea - radio frequency (RF) technology is vital in providing a
wide range of advanced capabilities that stretch from basic communications through to force
protection, electronic warfare (EW) systems, and theatre-wide communications and intelligence
networks. These systems have demonstrated their benefits in recent operations, although applying
and managing RF technology can be complex.
The MEWS ESM system in the field, with connected laptop for the operator interface. (L-3 TRL)
1356905
The shift to multifunction utility may be embodied by the Disruptor SRx system under development
by Harris (formerly Exelis). This small reconfigurable device is designed to take advantage of
'system-on-chip' technology, in this case with a digital receiver, digital signal processor and digital
frequency memory in a single unit.
Copyright IHS and its affiliated and subsidiary companies, all rights reserved. All
trademarks belong to IHS and its affiliated and subsidiary companies, all rights reserved.
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With each module around the size of a pack of playing cards, Disruptor SRx's small size could
enable missiles, decoys, or small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to carry EW modules.
The system is intended to enable operators to undertake real-time reconfiguration and
simultaneously conduct jamming/transmit or surveillance/receive missions, so that air platforms
can undertake a range of tasks from electronic intelligence (ELINT) gathering, electronic
protection/attack, communications jamming, or electronic support measures without having to
install standalone systems.
As a Harris representative explained to IHS Jane's previously, "If I have 10 channels now listening
for ESM [electronic support measures] and I go into contested airspace, I am going to reprogram
three of those channels to be in electronic protect [mode while] the other seven channels are
continuing with the ESM mission."
According to Harris, development of the system is approaching Technology Readiness Level
(TRL) 7 and operational testing of hardware is expected before the end of 2016. Disruptor SRx
may be showing the design direction for software-defined EW.
Topside challenges
Modern surface warships are required to support a multiplicity of RF apertures to serve separate
EW, information operations (IO), communication, and radar functions. However, this need to locate
multiple RF systems in close proximity - with each demanding optimised access to the
electromagnetic spectrum - inevitably brings issues attendant to electromagnetic
interference/electromagnetic compatibility (EMI/EMC). Ship RF signature and radar cross section
(RCS) are also difficult to manage with a large number of standalone RF apertures/antennas to
locate. Additionally, new communications and radar requirements are increasing space, weight,
and power demands on the upper decks and masts of new platforms.
Integrated Topside Innovative Naval Prototype elements. (US ONR)

1486229
To overcome these tyrannies, the US Navy (USN) - through the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been maturing technologies, techniques, and architectures to enable RF resources to be
shared across the sensor, effector, and communication domains, and to provide the ability to
perform dynamic resource and spectrum allocation in real time.
These efforts date back to the 1990s, beginning with the Advanced Multi Function Radio
Frequency Concept (AMRFC) testbed. Established in 1999, the AMRFC programme was a proofof-principle demonstration of the concept of broadband RF apertures that can simultaneously
perform many radar, EW, and communications functions from common, low-signature apertures.
Its objective was to significantly reduce the number of individual topside RF apertures, with a
commensurate reduction in RCS, while at the same time increasing functionality and bandwidth.
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In effect, AMRFC represented a first test of the integrated topside concept, with the Naval
Research Laboratory (NRL) and industry partners integrating multifunction transmit and receive
arrays with generic exciter/receivers and a navy-developed resource allocation manager. These
were brought together in the AMRFC testbed at NRL's Chesapeake Bay Detachment site in
Maryland, in 2004; full demonstrations of multifunction, simultaneous operation of EW (active and
passive), communications, and radar were then conducted for the USN's research and acquisition
communities.
AMRFC was followed by the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare (MFEW) programme, established
by ONR and NRL in fiscal year 2005. Designed to mature and transition critical EW system
technologies to full-scale engineering development, the MFEW had requirements shaped by eight
key performance factors: frequency and spatial coverage; sensitivity; system response time from
signal detection to emitter reporting; electromagnetic environment requirements (for both onboard
and offboard emitters); signal angle-of-arrival (AOA) measurement accuracy; antenna RCS;
emitter classification requirements, including false emitter reporting rate; and performance
requirements against specified emerging threats. In addition, the ONR required that the design be
modular and open, scalable to meet the different size and operational requirements of multiple
platforms, capable of future growth to perform additional EW functions, and capable of
incorporation into an integrated sensor/communications system-of-systems under the real-time
control of a Resource Allocation Manager (RAM).
Northrop Grumman was selected in September 2005 to develop the MFEW Advanced
Demonstration Model (ADM). This demonstrated the ability to perform multiple electronic support
functions and to incorporate the ability to integrate with RAM and other RF systems. As with the
AMRFC testbed, the MFEW ADM has been installed and tested at the NRL's Chesapeake Bay
Detachment.
Building on this precursor work, the Integrated Topside (InTop) Innovative Naval Prototype (INP)
programme was established in 2009 to develop a scalable family of multifunction, multibeam
apertures and supporting electronic subsystems for radar, EW, IO and communications. The
intention is that these integrated systems, when deployed, will have reduced cost, manning, and
engineering impacts on ship design than a more conventional aggregation of federated systems
with similar capability.
The ONR characterises InTop as an "integrated, multifunctional, multibeam topside aperture
construct that has a modular, open RF architecture; software-defined functionality; and
synchronised and optimised RF functions for electromagnetic interference mitigation". "RF
functions [will] simultaneously share apertures and signal processing through the use of a central
resource allocation manager," the ONR continued. "Requests for resources to accomplish various
radio frequency functions (e.g. radar, electronic warfare, communications) are prioritised, then
resources are assigned to accomplish the function. The topside is continually optimised to meet
the highest priority needs at any given time."
The goal is to allow "multiple, simultaneous surface-to-air links without taking up valuable topside
real estate aboard ship [affording] the fleet a cost-competitive solution with the use of multiple dish
antennas while also facilitating integration of flat panel arrays into topside structures". The ONR
adds that InTop will provide system capabilities "that can be scaled for the size and mission of the
targeted platform and incorporate a navy-developed resource allocation manager which will adapt
the InTop systems in real time to provide specific radio frequency transmit and receive sensor and
communications functions".
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The InTop programme has placed indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts with 18 qualified
industry partners. Covering full system capability development, niche capability development and
systems integration, these contracts have been designed to allow the acquisition community to
purchase initial production units of InTop-developed technology for implementation in combat
systems.
The InTop programme has completed study contracts germane to surface ship radar, EW, IO, and
communications systems. One key activity was the award of contracts in 2010 for developing an
Integrated EW/IO/Communications ADM for use in the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement
Program Block III. In February 2016 Northrop Grumman disclosed that this ADM had been
successfully demonstrated in October/November 2015 at the NRL's Chesapeake Bay Detachment
facility, with all three functions conducted simultaneously. Northrop Grumman, as prime contractor,
performed the majority of the effort at its engineering and manufacturing centre; its team also
included Harris (formerly Exelis) and ArgonST.
A separate contract for developing a wideband Submarine Satellite Communications Antenna
System was awarded in early 2010. In late 2011, a further contract was awarded for the InTop
Low-Level Resource Allocation Manager and Infrastructure Development.
Another InTop strand is the Flexible Distributed Array Radar (FlexDAR), intended to demonstrate
new capabilities provided by the implementation of every radar element level digital beam forming,
combined with network co-ordination and precise time synchronisation. Contracted to Raytheon in
2014, FlexDAR is a maturing technology that will lead to enhanced capability for future radar
sensors including software-defined digital re-configurability at the foundational level.
The Low-band RF Intelligent Distribution Resource (LowRIDR) is also part of the InTop INP effort.
LowRIDR is focused on specific RF capabilities, notably communications (Link 16, IFF, and
TACAN, IO, EW, and realtime spectrum operations). In March 2016 the Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Center Pacific disclosed its intention to award Technology Unlimited Group a contract for
the provision of technical, engineering, and project management expertise in support of the
integration of emerging sensor technology into the LowRIDR ADM.
Richard Scott
SDR utility
Software Defined Radios (SDR) increasingly provide the latest generation of military radio
communications, delivering increased flexibility and reconfigurability together with improved size,
weight, and power (SWaP) for transceivers.
The advantages of this technology apply equally where only the receive element is used and are
being leveraged and incorporated into signals intelligence (SIGINT) equipment.
Previous generations of radio technology were essentially developed with a static architecture and
were hardware-defined, so were neither programmable nor configurable. An SDR gets away from
this.
An SDR essentially consists of two main components: a radio front end for the transmission and
reception of radio waves, and a programmable baseband signal-processing board.
The front end includes the antenna and hardware to convert the incoming analog signal to a digital
one, or vice versa for the outgoing signal. It is configurable in terms of frequency, bandwidth, and
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amplitude. There are then different options for implementing the algorithms for baseband
processing: with a general-purpose CPU, with a programmable chip such as a digital-signal
processor (DSP), or with a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
A SIGINT system using SDR technology essentially uses the receiver half of the process and
integrates it with analytical tools and a user interface. These are now increasingly in evidence,
particularly where SWaP is an issue, although by the nature of the arena in which they are
employed details are often scarce.
Australian firm WiNRADio's MS-8118/G3 Spectrum Monitoring System, for example, is designed
for the automatic monitoring of frequencies ranging from 9 kHz to 8.6 GHz. The system can
monitor radio frequencies on multiple channels simultaneously, record digitised signals on hard
disk, and perform automatic decisions based on the received signals.
It is based on a number of card-based software-defined receivers with a built-in DSP and external
connections for antenna and audio output. Each receiver can either operate independently as a
spectrum monitoring and analysis device, or alternatively receivers can work in a master/slave
arrangement where a 'master' search receiver hands off its found frequency to a 'slave' for
monitoring, while continuing to search.
The handheld android interface for the L-3 Linkabit PRD-13 (V)3. (Giles Ebbutt)
1480651
L-3 Linkabit's PRD-13(V)3 tactical manpack COMINT equipment, which is currently in use with
unspecified US military and other customers, first appeared publicly in an early version in 2009. It
is a software-defined system that can host a range of waveforms and can process what are
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euphemistically known as "modern signals", which usually refers to low probability of intercept
(LPI) frequency-hopping, or spread spectrum transmissions. It has a frequency range of 2 MHz to
3 GHz with three channels that can be used for simultaneous scan, collection, and direction finding
(DF).
The Chemring TS new handheld android control unit for the Resolve manpack COMINT and DF
system. (Chemring TS)
1480652
The Resolve V3 tactical EW manpack system from Chemring Technical Solutions (TS) has a
frequency range of 1 MHz to 3 GHz and two channels, and uses Chemring's own SDR algorithms.
It is also capable of intercepting modern signals and is in use with a number of unspecified
customers.
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Resolve manpack EW system. (Roke Manor Research)

1347586
L-3 TRL's Modular Electronic Warfare System (MEWS), which is in service with the UK as its
Medium Weight Electronic Surveillance Capability (MWESC), is a lightweight ESM and DF system
with a frequency range of 20 MHz to 3 GHz with an instantaneous bandwidth of 40 MHz. It has
three wideband software-defined receivers, two of which provide wideband detection and DF, with
the third providing a hand-off capability so specific signals can be monitored and analysed.
One advantage of using SDR technology in a COMINT system is that the receivers can be
reconfigured "on the fly", which is particularly useful in unmanned systems applications. BAE
Systems Electronic Systems has developed the Tactical SIGINT Payload (TSP), which is currently
installed on the US Army's MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV, as a scalable solution with a software-defined
architecture. It covers the HF to Ku band frequency range although exact frequencies are
unavailable. The TSP is billed as having the capability to collect multiple signal protocols and can
be reconfigured in the course of a mission.
BAE Systems is using the technology behind the TSP to develop a family of systems with wider
applicability for installation in manned aircraft and ground vehicles as well as other unmanned
aircraft.
DRS Technologies Signal Solutions has developed products using SDR technology for use in
SIGINT equipment. The SI-8649A/PF PicoFlexor has single- and dual-channel variants and covers
the 2 MHz to 3 GHz frequency range, which can be extended to 12.4 GHz using the SI-9249/FE
frequency extender. It uses a FPGA for its baseband processing. The SWaP savings achievable
with this technology are demonstrated by the fact that the dual channel version, the larger of the
two, measures only 7.62x14.2x14.57 cm and weighs less than 1 kg.
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The Blackstone body-worn communications monitoring and DF system, which is in use with the
USMC and US Army Special Forces and incorporates the PicoCeptor dual-channel softwaredefined radio. (Giles Ebbutt)
1486228
DRS also produces the SI-8649A dual-channel PicoCeptor, which incorporates an embedded
PowerPC in the FPGA running Linux. This is incorporated into the Blackstone body-worn
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communications monitoring and DF system, which is in use with the US Marine Corps (USMC)
and US Army Special Forces.
Giles Ebbutt
Airborne advantage
Advances in RF technology have reached the point where non-compatible radios can be
networked together and, when allied with airborne installation, can overcome traditional line-ofsight (LOS) constraints.
This concept is well illustrated by Northrop Grumman's Battlefield Airborne Communications Node
(BACN) architecture, which has been supporting operations in southwest Asia since late 2008.
BACN takes the form of an airborne internet protocol (IP)-based communications relay and
information server that links radios and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
systems for US Department of Defense (DoD) networks. When flown at altitude, BACN extends
the range of LOS radios, while its "forward edge tactical server" provides real-time access to
situational awareness, surveillance, imagery, and network management information for air- and
ground-based units.
BACN display showing high connectivity regions. (IHS/Patrick Allen)

1469056
Functionally, BACN is remotely controlled from the ground and its airborne executive processor
assembles and manages ad-hoc IP networks and acts as a bridge between heterogeneous tactical
data and voice networks.
The waveforms and radios supported include the single-channel ground and airborne radio system
(SINCGARS); demand-assigned multiple access (DAMA) equipments; the enhanced position
location reporting system/situation awareness datalink (EPLRS/SADL); 'Havequick I' and 'II', and
Link 16 equipments and amplitude/frequency modulated (AM/FM) very high frequency (VHF - 30
to 300 MHz) and AM ultra high frequency (UHF - 300 MHz to 3 GHz) radios.
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The architecture's IP-based connectivity utilises the tactical targeting network technology (TTNT),
tactical common datalink (TCDL), and 802.11b waveforms. Other system features are said to
include use of the joint translator forwarder (JxF) disparate frequency/format/protocol connectivity
software; incorporation of a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular telephone base station;
and use of Northrop Grumman's gateway manager (GM) tactical router.
The cellular base station subsystem is reported as being designed to facilitate the establishment of
ground-based cellular telephone networks, while the GM router handles joint-range extension
applications protocol (JREAP) A/B/C, Links 11/11B and 16, tactical digital information link - J
series messages (TADIL J) format messages; provides optional data forwarding between Links
11/11B and 16 and a tactical situational awareness display; incorporates commercial off-the-shelf
components; is scalable; and can incorporate an optional inter-range instrumentation group
modification B (IRIG B - 100 pulses/s) time reference signal if required.
JREAP A offers half-duplex communications using an announced token passing protocol; operates
at data rates of down to 2,400 bits/s (on a serial interface with a transmission security [TSEC], KG84A, KIV-7 or compatible encryption device) and is designed for use with media such as 25 kHz
channel spaced UHF time division multiple access (TDMA)/DAMA satellite communications,
extremely high frequency (EHF - 30 to 300 GHz) low-data-rate (LDR) forced mode network
operations and 5 and 25 kHz channel spaced non-DAMA satellite communications.
JREAP B is a synchronous and asynchronous point-to-point mode that is used with super-highfrequency (SHF - 3 to 30 GHz) and EHF LDR point-to-point mode synchronous connections,
secure telephone unit (STU) - III (using telephone lines), and other point-to-point media
connections. JREAP C makes use of IP in conjunction with either the user datagram protocol
(UDP) or transmission control protocol (TCP) and facilitates joint range extension (JRE) over IPbased networks that meet operational requirements in areas such as security and speed of
service.
Elsewhere, the architecture's GM router configurations comprise Link 16 bus monitor, Link 16 host
simulation, and Link 16 virtual terminal/virtual host and terminal simulation. The architecture also
forms part of the roll-on/roll-off beyond line-of-sight extension (ROBE) communications
architecture as well as the BACN and Paul Revere systems.
While BACN has proved itself operationally - having completed 100,000 combat operation flight
hours as of January 2016 - it requires host platforms the size of the Bombardier E-11A and the
Northrop Grumman EQ-4 UAV. Accordingly, attempts have been made to miniaturise the
capability with a particular view to making it suitable for use on smaller UAVs. Here, IHS Jane's
identifies L-3 Communications Systems - West's Mobile Hotspots, Northrop Grumman's Smart
Node, and Ultra Electronics Advanced Tactical Systems' (ATS) TACPOD architectures as
examples of the genre.
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A Global Express aircraft configured as an E-11A BACN platform. The capability has been
deployed in support of US operations in southwest Asia. (IHS/Patrick Allen)
1377010
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) Mobile Hotspots effort is
aimed at developing and demonstrating a scalable, mobile, millimetre-wave (mmW)
communications backbone that has the capacity and range required to connect dismounted
warfighters with forward-operating bases, tactical operations centres, ISR assets, and fixed
communications infrastructures. The programme envisages the creation of air, mobile, and fixed
assets that are able to provide a gigabit-per-second tactical mmW backbone network that extends
to the lowest-echelon warfighter.
Mobile Hotspots is intended to develop the mmW pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT)
technology needed for the effective use of smaller UAVs in the system together with small-SWaP
high-power mmW amplifiers that can be carried by such air vehicles. As of April 2014, Mobile
Hotspots Phase 1 had been completed and demonstrated small steerable mmW antennas, lownoise amplifiers, a gallium nitride (GaN) amplifier chip that demonstrated a power output and
power added efficiency (PAE) of more than 1 W and 20% respectively in the 71 to 86 GHz band
and, according to DARPA, new approaches to "robust airborne networking and engineering
designs" for a pod with a diameter of no more than 203 mm, a weight of less than 54.4 kg, and a
power consumption of less than 150 W and which would be suitable for carriage in the wing pylons
of an RQ-7 Shadow air vehicle.
Phase 2 of the programme began in March 2014 and saw the down-selection of teams led by L-3
Communications and the FIRST RF Corporation - among others - to integrate selected Phase 1
technologies into RQ-7 compatible pods and ground vehicles and stage a ground demonstration of
the architecture that would include at least four Shadow pods, two ground vehicle applications,
and a fixed ground node. In early 2015, a proposed Mobile Hotspots Phase 3 was to encompass
field testing of the system using a network made up of multiple Shadow UAVs and mobile ground
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vehicles.
Of the Phase 2 competitors, the L-3 Communications team is understood to have included BAE
Systems (low-noise amplifiers), HRL Laboratories (GaN power devices), IMSAR (antenna
pedestals), MaXentric Technologies (software-defined modem hardware), Millitech (E-band
technology), and Zivko Aeronautics (radomes and pod structures). All the required system
components were billed as being packaged in two underwing pods, with the necessary discovery
and long-term evolution (LTE) antennas being located on the air vehicle's wingtips and tail.
Each equipment pod is described as housing two gimbaled mmW radios, GPS antennas, and
inertial measurement units, with one also carrying the architecture's primary network router and
the other its discovery and LTE subsystems. Each pod was expected to have a nominal mass of
between 10 and 12 kg and a power requirement of between 200 and 500 W, depending on the
system's operating mode.
Northrop Grumman's Smart Node multi-platform airborne gateway pod leverages the company's
work on the BACN architecture. As such, Smart Node is designed to act as a force multiplier via its
ability to extend LOS and beyond LOS (BLOS) communications, tactical datalinks, and IP-based
systems within the US DoD's high-capacity joint aerial layer network (JALN) communications
management system.
The application bridges data and voice communications and projects networking capabilities to the
forward edge of the battlefield. Other system features include single- and dual-pod configurations,
with provision for the common datalink (CDL); Link 16; SADL/EPLRS and AN/PRC-117 and other
radio functionality; voice bridging; range extending and gateway facilities; the ability to handle fullmotion video (FMV); and interoperability with BACN platforms.
In programmatic terms, Northrop Grumman completed flight trails of a Smart Node Pod mounted
on its Firebird optionally piloted air vehicle in May 2012, with the round demonstrating the
application's ability to transmit imagery, video, voice, and digital messaging. Thereafter, in July
that year the contractor used the same host platform to validate Smart Node's ability to work with
the US Army's High Antenna for Radio Communications (HARC) system. Here, Smart Node was
used to facilitate HARC's connection with other ground radio networks to form a unified network
that operated across different radio systems that included then-deployed legacy equipment and
radios based on what at the time were new waveforms.
The extent to which Ultra Electronics Advanced Tactical Systems' (ATS's) TACPOD was used
operationally is unclear, but the company announced in late August 2013 that US Air Force
(USAF) flight testing had completed. According to some reports, despite successful testing and
investment in the system, TACPOD has been shelved by the USAF for the time being.
The equipment was designed to offer a robust, non-invasive payload for tactical communications
exchange in an airborne-qualified pod for external mounting on manned platforms and UAVs. The
architecture is billed as providing BLOS and over-the-horizon (OTH) relay and extension of
legacy/future communications waveforms; bridging and interoperability between dissimilar
waveforms; video management, relay, and dissemination; secure anti-jam tactical datalink
functionality, file management and sharing (free-text, chat and nine-line messaging); and
multichannel radio relay and bridging. Each TACPOD weighs about 54.4 kg, has an operating
temperature range of -40C to 65C, can operate at altitudes of up to 70,000 ft above mean sea
level, and comprises TacCore and radio and/or sensor equipment packages.
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The TacCore package comprises an air segment computer, an IP switch and router, an air vehicle
interface, a power distribution unit, a cryptographic unit, GPS capability, and CDL implementation.
The radio/sensor compartment can be configured to accommodate electro-optical (EO) sensors,
weather instrumentation, an RF identification capability, SIGINT equipment, communications
radios, and small tactical terminal (STT) and multifunctional information distribution system (MIDS)
applications.
The USAF's Life Cycle Management Center awarded Ultra Electronics ATS a quick reaction
capability (QRC) TACPOD contract aimed at the delivery of "multiple, complete" TACPOD
systems that each comprised a two-pod mission set and ground support and ancillary packages.
Martin Streetly
COMMENT
Extant operations are demonstrating the demand for multifunction utility in the systems deployed
by armed forces, and this is only set to increase. While the likes of BACN have shown the
advantages of communications networks run from a single node and SDRs have proven their
worth in intelligence and EW tasks, the approach proffered by Harris' Disruptor SRx system is
likely to be how manufacturers deliver a wide range of capabilities in a single package.
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Radio repurposed: Reaping the benefits of

Integrated Topside Innovative Naval Prototype elements. (US ONR)

Resolve manpack EW system. (Roke Manor Research)

BACN display showing high connectivity regions. (IHS/Patrick Allen)

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