[SatNews] The Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) and ViaSat Inc. (Nasdaq: VSAT) have successfully demo'd the ability to integrate commercial mobile SATCOM networks with JTRS networks.

This integration allows the commander to interconnect dispersed field forces using JTRS radios and then backhaul communications to command centers or any other locations, including mobile locations, throughout the globe. The capability has the potential to interconnect air, land, and sea forces into an integrated tactical network for shared situational awareness and the distribution of voice, video, or sensor data within theater or around the world for real time decision making. Today, tactical communications are dominated by line-of-sight links, so mountain ranges or other physical obstacles block communication between units. While JTRS radios have the ability to emulate a wide variety of current force radios, they also implement IP-based networking for increased data throughput over self-forming, self-healing, managed networks, thereby increasing range and reliability of communications and data exchange. The integration of SATCOM on-the-move capabilities, including the ViaSat ArcLight® system or LinkWayS2™ current force modem, extends the range and reliability even further.

The demonstration attached a commercial broadband on-the-move satellite modem to the JTRS software defined Ground Mobile Radio (GMR). The system architecture included the JTRS developed Wideband Networking Waveform performing as a local wireless network, with the worldwide ViaSat Yonder® Ku-band mobile broadband network as the beyond line-of-sight link secured with the new ViaSat AltaSec® IPS-250, a non-CCI, Suite B inline network encryptor.