Employing Ad-Hoc Networking with Aerial Communications Nodes for Wireless Tactical Experimentation

Today's COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) technologies possess the functionality to support the information and knowledge needs of the military. Text messaging, voice over IP (VoIP), portals and collaboration tools such as video conferencing, are relatively mature and widely used in the commercial arena. Broadband communications such as WiFi and WiMAX, coupled with technologies like mobile ad-hoc networking (MANET), are also likely to be more favoured over traditional radios to support high bandwidth information demands. In end 2005, the Singapore Armed Forces, together with the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), conducted a communication relay experiment using aerial communications nodes (ACN). The intent of the experiment was to demonstrate the potential of using collaboration tools to facilitate dynamic planning in military and humanitarian aids operations, enabled by a COTS network environment that was both adaptive and high in bandwidth. The quick-deployable COTS network was deployed using several MANET radios hoisted by tethered helium balloons in a tactical environment to realise the concept of aerial communications nodes. This network was capable of providing a coverage area of over 400 square km at the exercise training area. For experimentation purposes, the use of such tethered balloons proved to be both efficient and cost-effective