FORT BENNING, Ga., 3 Mar. 2009. In what is being billed as an industry first, engineers at Raytheon Company have established a seamless, tactical wireless network designed to deliver simultaneous voice, data, and video among soldiers, vehicles, and unmanned systems.
The mobile ad-hoc network was demonstrated during the U.S. Army's Expeditionary Warrior Experiments for the U.S. Army's Experimental Force.
"We are providing today's future force with solutions it can use for tomorrow's challenges," says Jerry Powlen, vice president, Network Centric Systems' Integrated Communications Systems. "These exercises highlighted our ability to deliver command and control capabilities and situational awareness for the dismounted soldier."
During government-sponsored exercises, Raytheon engineers deployed the company's Enhanced Position Location Reporting System as the tactical wireless network. The EPLRS network provided end-to-end connectivity for soldiers to evaluate networked solutions from unmanned aerial vehicles and other sensors.
The company also established a wireless connection between the EPLRS network and its high-capacity, beyond line-of-site troposcatter system. The link enabled high-capacity communication directly to the dismounted soldier in extended ranges without the need for satellites, reveals a representative.
