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BLOS Communications Critical for US Military Technological Superiority
by Naveen Verma
naveen.verma@tachyon.com
Director, Sales Engineering
Tachyon Networks, Inc
The USA has ended the war in Iraq, but the war against terror is absolutely in full force and will remain in full force for the unforeseeable future. As the world’s geopolitical realities become more fluid and complex, one thing that is very critical to fighting the war against terror is our manned or unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission capability. My sense is that unmanned missions in particular are going to be more prevalent in the future to minimize any human casualties. We all heard about President Obama’s plans for defense cuts, and following is what Leon Panetta, Defense Secretary also said in his speech: “…as we reduce the overall defense budget, we will protect our investments in special operations forces, new technologies like ISR and unmanned systems, space and cyberspace capabilities and our capacity to quickly mobilize. These investments will help the military retain and continue to refine and institutionalize the expertise and capabilities that have been gained at such great cost over the last decade…” That’s right! ISR and unmanned systems are indeed critical to the current and future US military.
One of the key elements to an ISR mission is Satellite Communications-On-The-Move (SOTM) technology especially in underdeveloped areas of the world. SOTM technology is fast, reliable, rugged and secure to meet all of ISR’s challenges. Whether one needs real-time video transmission while performing air surveillance, or Internet access from a ship in international waters, or communication access for the mobile command center, satellite communications service is guaranteed to work, particularly for Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) communication. Currently, SOTM technology can provide return speeds of many megabits per second to upload content whether it’s real-time HD video or any stored data or video from the aircraft. Whether an ISR mission requires manned or unmanned, rotor blade or fixed wing aircraft, advanced BLOS communications technologies are essential to the timely dissemination of information from in-theater locations back to command centers.
So as many areas of military investment are reduced in the coming years, I expect to see continuous investment into SOTM technologies as a vital enabler for the US Military’s technological superiority.
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Enjoyed the quick note to keep me updated on direction of military technology.
Ron Paul has a lot of good ideas, if all of the above were put into efceft we would be started in the right direction.
In roiatcen to today’s announcement of the failure of the congressional “debt super committee,” Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President of the Center for Security Policy and founding member of the Coalition for the Common Defense made the following statement:“Today’s announcement by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction of its inability to reach agreement on a plan to address the nation’s mounting debt is a dereliction of duty, all-too reflective of a dysfunctional federal government that insists on denying its obvious problem: out-of-control spending. The Joint Committee’s failure will now trigger the fall-back mechanism of last summer’s debt legislation: “sequestration.” We now face an imminent danger to our national security. Our military is already struggling to absorb $450 billion in cuts. Sequestration will add another $600 billion of mandatory cuts to our national defense. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has rightly described this level of cuts as “shooting ourselves in the head.” The American people, by an overwhelming 82% margin in the recent POLITICO-Battleground poll, have soundly rejected further cuts to our national defense. Zero cuts have been taken from entitlements; almost half a trillion in cuts have been taken from our national defense. We will be left with a severely weakened military used to confront an increasingly assertive China, resurgent Russia, and unstable Middle East, including a nuclear Iran. The first duty of our government under the Constitution is to ‘provide for the common defense.’ Americans are insisting that Washington hear that message. Sequestration must not be allowed to compromise our national security.”
How about enilinatimg the DoD 'green programs'; the nation building; the overseas forces defending stable countries; all pork-barrel projects. And implement a biennial DoD O&M budget.
Cuts? What cuts? with bleasine accounting spending will increse, just at a lower rate. Pay attention to what they do not what they say!
I am wnlliig to bet $1,000.00 that not one of the folks writing in favor of cutting the military budget have never served in the military. Fools.
All that is well and good, but I have yet heard an eonalpiatixn (cogent or otherwise) as to why the US is "forward deployed" in places like Europe. I am sure they cost quite a bit – for what benefit?
The US spneds more on defense than the next 20 countries combined. There is no reasonable explanation for this level of expenditure.