Successful development and test of SATCOM On-The-Move (OTM) Ku-band Kaband Systems for the Army's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T)

The U.S. Army's WIN-T program, in partnership with General Dynamics and their team of subcontractors, successfully demonstrated satellite communications (SATCOM) on the move (SOTM) capabilities and their ability to support mobile commanders. This demonstration was conducted as part of a formal development test/operational test (DT/OT) test event held at Fort Huachuca, AZ in November 2005. This paper will discuss the SOTM terminal design, test strategy, and measured performance of both the Ku- and Ka-band SOTM terminals used to evaluate how the Army warfighter can be served with reliable voice over IP (VoIP), video and data communications while on the move. The WIN-T DT/OT, and more specifically SOTM tests, were used in part to assess the maturity of key technologies and the performance of the design in a networked and operationally relevant setting. Some of the more significant design drivers include antenna aperture and pedestal station keeping; and throughput performance. The throughput requirement of 256 kbps at the application layer (layer 3) was achieved during the course of formal DT/OT testing. SOTM testing assessed a throughput capability of approximately 770 kbps at Ku-band over the Americom AMC-9 satellite and Ka-band (using a satellite emulator) of 1 Mbps and greater while the vehicles were traveling at speeds in excess of 25 mph