US Space Force increases efforts to plug training capabilities gaps
The service has been seeking simulation and emulation solutions capable of reproducing multiple in-orbit threats.
Harris Corporation has announced a number of new contracts over the past week for its tactical radio products. The awards, which include two unnamed Middle East countries and Poland, are worth a combined $42 million.
On 17 September the company revealed it has received a $25 million order from a government in the Middle East for Falcon II high-frequency tactical radios as part of a military communications modernisation programme. Under this contract the company will provide the Falcon II RF-5800H base stations, vehicular systems and manpack radios to provide beyond line-of-sight terrestrial voice and data communications. The RF-5800H offers advanced features such as Third Generation-Automatic Link Establishment for initiating contact between two HF radios; integrated data link protocols for data sharing such as embedded text messaging and embedded GPS receivers.
On 18 September another $10 million contract was announced that would see the company supply the Polish Ministry of National Defense with Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radios and Falcon II AN/PRC-150 high-frequency manpack radios. According to Harris, the Ministry of National Defense is acquiring the AN/PRC-117G multiband radio to provide communications interoperability with US, NATO and coalition forces. The AN/PRC-117G delivers combat net radio, tactical satellite and ground-to-air capabilities in a lightweight, versatile platform. The AN/PRC-150 provides long-range Type-1 secure beyond-line-of-sight communications to forces operating in challenging environments.
This was followed by an announcement on 19 September that the company had received a $7.2 million order to supply a nation in the Middle East with Falcon III RF-7800S Secure Personal Radios and Falcon II high-frequency manpack radios. The nation is acquiring the radios to provide security forces with high-performance line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight tactical communications. The Falcon III RF-7800S is a lightweight body-worn tactical radio that provides full-duplex voice and data communications over two kilometres. Optimised for maximum performance across highly variable environments, the RF-7800S secure personal role radio provides continuous coverage in the 350 to 450 MHz frequency range. The radio offers dual push-to-talk capabilities and allows simultaneous communication for voice, data and video.
The service has been seeking simulation and emulation solutions capable of reproducing multiple in-orbit threats.
The service has been conducting several acquisition and upgrading efforts involving artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve communication, data analysis and ISR systems.
The Syracuse 4B communications satellite, developed by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space, was launched last year, bolstering secure military satellite communications for the French Armed Forces. Thales has now been selected to provide terminals for vehicles.
The growing importance of space in modern warfare, advancements in satellite technology, and increasing threats from rivals like China and Russia were among the topics of a Eurosatory 2024 panel on military space operations.
AN/ARC-232A is a Starfire radio that provides VHF/UHF communications to airborne platforms and the transceiver is software-programmable, allowing for multiple waveform support as well as optional national electronic counter counter-measure (ECCM) capability.
During the 18-month period of the contract, Lockheed Martin will apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to create surrogate models of aircraft, sensors, electronic warfare and weapons within dynamic and operationally representative environments.