Warfighter digital wireless system approved by Air Force

Posted by John McHaleORLANDO, Fla., 23 July 2011. U.S. Air Force officials gave their blessing to Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) engineers to begin producing a wireless communication system for remote warfighters called the Theater Deployable Communications (TDC) Wireless Distribution Module (WDM).The new system will create a line-of-sight extension of local area networks as well as a radio-frequency link extension of local Internet Protocol-based traffic to quickly distribute network capability to tactical warfighters deployed remotely.Northrop Grumman engineers will produce 140 WDM systems for the Air Force Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. The production approval followed environmental and operational testing. The operational test had the WDM operating in point-to-point and point-to-multipoint modes of operation at distances and rates not previously achieved, company officials say.WDM is a new part of the Air Force's TDC, a ground-to-ground communications infrastructure that transmits and receives voice, data, and video communications securely, to or from satellite, wireless, or hard-wired sources. WDM will communicate data securely to enable interoperability between Air Force, joint, and coalition elements throughout the battlefield and reach-back command and control centers through Defense Switched Network, Defense Information Systems Network core services, Secure Internet Protocol Network, and Non-secure Internet Protocol Network and. The system is packaged in modules and kits, which are transported, installed, and operated from transit cases and can be designed to meet specific mission needs.WDM consists of a single radio that performs in the commercial and NATO frequency bands. The single radio concept should also cut down on costs associated with lifecycle and training needs as well as decrease the logistics footprint. The WDM system is undergoing Information Assurance certification, and the radio is a FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 device providing an AES-256 encrypted radio frequency link.To combat jamming and high-noise environments WDM uses dynamic data-rate selection and automated frequency selection across multiple channels. It will be operated by a two-person team.