Speakeasy-a new direction in tactical communications for the 21st century

Speakeasy, now in its advanced development model phase, will be able to communicate with any of fifteen presently fielded radio types: a waveform ensemble spanning HF through X-band and comprising skywave, line-of-sight, tropo and satellite communications media. In addition, Speakeasy contains a new, advanced, waveform which, together with advanced receiver processing and automatic link reconfiguration/control, provides unprecedented resistance to interception, exploitation, interference, and propagation impairments such as multipath. The Speakeasy system is based on a 'library' of common standardized modules. Each deployment is composed of a particular combination of modules according to the platform and mission. The manpack, because of the relatively large number envisioned for the future battlefield, is the determiner of the module designs and standards. This permits other platforms to enjoy reduced initial and life cycle costs from module commonality with the numerically dominant manpack. An overview of the Speakeasy concept is presented, and its functional design concept is examined.<>