Successful milsat anti-jamming comms test

Boeing has applied new anti-jamming technology to an existing military satellite for the first time, expanding the military’s potential to access secure communications more affordably.

In the test conducted on 15 December 2013, Boeing successfully sent a US government-developed, protected signal through the sixth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS-6) satellite. Engineers confirmed that the signal met all targets for accuracy and strength. The demonstration follows a successful transmission of data over the ViaSat-1 commercial satellite in July 2013, showing that the technology offers an affordable option for enhancing anti-jam communications using existing commercial and US government satellites and terminals.

“This technology boosts the ability of warfighters to send protected information without enemy data interference by using currently available satellites that do not have anti-jamming technology of their own,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems. “The two demonstrations show the technology is flexible and able to be quickly deployed at a much lower cost than building a new satellite.”

The WGS-6 satellite is part of an expanding defence communications satellite network to serve the US and its allies. In a first-of-its-kind arrangement, Australia paid for the WGS-6 satellite - at a cost of around $800 million - for which it is entitled to use the other five WGS satellites. Following on from this successful model, other countries have joined the WGS program.

For both tests, the signal was sent using a commercial modem that ViaSat modified with anti-jamming features. Boeing plans to continue to develop and test the technology for compatibility with other terminals and systems in 2014.