Inmarsat rolls out new terminal to support US airborne reconnaissance missions

Inmarsat Government has announced the availability of a new-generation L-band Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Ultra-Lightweight (LAISR ULW) user terminal.

The terminal, consisting of a core module and antenna, is the latest addition to the company’s LAISR family. The ULW variant delivers access to full duplex, secure beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) communications via Inmarsat's global ELERA L-band network.

LAISR ULW provides customers with data rate throughput to support BLOS communications, while further reducing total terminal SWaP. It uses an integrated antenna self-steering capability, does not require external navigation data from the host platform and can operate in GPS-denied environments.

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LAISR ULW is enabled by the Black ICE Medium Software Defined Radio (SDR), which implements the Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite Second Generation (DVB-S2X) waveform in a low-SWaP form factor. 

It also includes a Radio Frequency Front End (RFFE), which provides robust filtering capabilities including automatic terrestrial interference protection. LAISR ULW also leverages a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) terrestrial backbone to securely transport customer traffic from platform to destination.

Antenna options cover compact omni-directional patches to fuselage-mounted, high-gain, steered variants. The terminal can be implemented in standalone configuration or retrofitted to an existing aircraft.

Matt Wissler, CTO, Inmarsat Government, said: 'We built these solutions tailored specifically to meet our government customers’ mission-critical needs. 

'The ULW terminal reflects upon their critical requirements for SATCOM-enabled BLOS connectivity and provides small UAS platforms (Group 2+) with a globally portable communications solution that provides high-rate return and maintains platform range to support ISR missions worldwide.'