Insight | Ka-band – the future of total connectivity for the AISR community

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Ka-band – the future of total connectivity for the AISR community

Government

Peter Hadinger, Inmarsat President, U.S. Government, looks at how Global Xpress can help the Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AISR) community maximize the effectiveness and reach of its intelligence gathering.

As global intelligence operations are conducted in the air more than ever, government agencies are re-evaluating their future data and communications technology needs to support these efforts.

It makes sense. From smaller tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to bigger ones which cross large bodies of oceans for days at a time – in addition to manned aircraft of all sizes – the rapidly changing global security environment is driving the Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AISR) community to deploy as many sensors as possible to maximize the effectiveness and reach of their intelligence gathering.

Clearly, this presents immense challenges with regard to bandwidth availability.

Future mission planning

The once-ubiquitous air-to-ground links typically won’t work for AISR once ground forces have left the area. An aircraft can sustain a connection, after all, only as long as it maintains a line of sight with the link. If it flies beyond a hill, the connection is broken.

That’s where satellite communications enter the picture – with Ka-band high-throughput satellites (HTS) emerging as the government’s top choice for future mission planning (as evidenced in recent NSR’s Government and Military Satellite Communications, 11th Edition report).

System designers prefer Ka-band HTS over older Ku-band links based on several mission-impacting criteria:

  • The best ‘small package’
    AISR planners prefer smaller satellite antennas because higher performance can fit on smaller airframes and blend into aerodynamic surfaces better – extending fuel efficiency and range, as well as reducing the ‘signature’ in covert applications. When a platform is confined to small antennas, the use of higher frequency Ka-band provides four times the transmit signal gain performance of Ku-band. Similarly, it’s of great value to a system designer to opt for a Ka-band antenna that’s one-fourth the size of a comparable Ku version.
  • Consistent coverage
    Older Ku-band satellites distribute power throughout the world via large regional beams, resulting in irregular ’hot‘ and ’cold‘ spots for data transmission. If you’re in a cold spot, your platform bandwidth can drop by as much as 90%. But Ka-band HTS coverage is created by many smaller ’spot’ beams whose hot spots are ‘stitched’ together, resulting in highly consistent illumination. This leaves no AISR user ‘out in the cold’ when the need for high-fidelity intelligence from a remote area crops up unexpectedly.
  • Own? Rent? It’s all compatible
    The U.S. government wants new aircraft systems and drones to be compatible with both their existing milsatcom systems and the new capabilities offered by the commercial industry. Ku terminals can’t readily do this because that frequency band is far removed from U.S. government bands – requiring separate hardware. But Ka-band includes frequencies used both by military and civilian users, meaning that Ka-band terminals can switch seamlessly between U.S. government systems that it owns and private-sector infrastructure that it can rent on-demand, permitting users to decide the best choice for their mission.
  • Flexible position
    The bottom-line value of Ka-band for AISR is clear: it is optimum for most modern intelligence and warfare requirements. When you invest in Ka-band, you get access to the extensive resources of the Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS). With worldwide commercial augmentation, you won’t get shortchanged because you’re outside of government satcom ’hot‘ zones, but can easily take advantage of those resources when  required. With ’satcom in the cloud‘ service available globally, you won’t have to estimate and pre-order the bandwidth you’ll require in advance of a particular mission as you do today on Ku-band. And that ‘cloud’ bandwidth follows you when missions demand that you relocate operations to another geographical region.Global Ku leasing is a piecemeal approach which costs time and money. Ka-band is uniformly global, not patchwork. Global Ka HTS does away with the ‘guesswork’ for leased bandwidth that demands pre-commitment. You’ll get total coverage and connectivity no matter where you are. You’ll decide where and how to use it, reducing costs and risk.

Benefits to government customers

At Inmarsat, we’ve worked hard to build on the experience of over 35 years as the world’s leading supplier of mobile satcom. The results can be seen in the benefits we bring to government customers through Global Xpress, the first-ever worldwide Ka-band end-to-end mobile commercial satellite system, from a single operator.

Gobal Xpress is now powering critical AISR missions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with global coverage expected in the second half of 2015. When combined with the unique high-speed/small terminal attributes of our current Inmarsat-4 (I-4) and Alphasat satellite systems, Inmarsat’s already committed investment in this satellite capability means AISR users finally have access to consistent, high-speed and robust global data links to almost any platform whether on land, at sea or in the air.

About the author


Peter Hadinger leads Inmarsat’s business unit responsible for all U.S. Government sales and programs. He has recently been responsible for developing the government-focused capabilities and services of Inmarsat’s new Global Xpress program. Previously he spent 30 years as a leader in technology development, engineering and government spacecraft programs at Northrop Grumman. He holds multiple patents in advanced communications.

Peter’s diverse regulatory and policy background includes leadership roles in the WTO Telecom Services Agreement, the FCC World Radio Conference Advisory Committee, the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and a fellowship in the U.S. Senate.

Peter received his BSEEE from California State Polytechnic University, an MBA with emphasis in finance and strategic planning from George Mason University, and serves on engineering advisory boards at Virginia Tech.