Drone satcom

The open nose compartment of the General Atomics Altair

Drones Between Satellite and Earth

One of the most significant military developments in the last 10 to 15 years has been that of the unmanned aerial vehicle, which has evolved from the simple drone with limited capability to today's sophisticated aircraft, which, for some roles, particularly Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), is now the platform of choice.

Hugh Jameson

he majority of drones download the product from their sensors by a lineof-sight datalink from a ground station.This has the disadvantage of limiting the range of the aircraft to that of the datalink communication. This limitation can be overcome by using another platform such as another drone or a manned aircraft as a relay, but this solution has the obvious drawback of an increased resource bill to support a single mission by a single platform. To achieve a true Beyond Line of Sight (Blos) capability requires the use of a satellite communication (satcom) system. A satcom-equipped drone will generally carry a directional antenna that automatically tracks the satellite. The system usually complements a conventional lineof-sight capability for mission control and product download as well as take-off and landing. It follows that the aircraft must be capable of carrying the additional payload of the satcom equipment, and that the airframe is capable of encom-

passing the satcom antenna. The telltale bulbous nose of some of the larger drones currently in use illustrates those that are satcom equipped. Communication capability with a drone must be constant (even if not used) throughout the flight for control and during the period its sensors are active. The latter may include video and, if it is to be used for targeting, particularly by a weapon carried by the platform itself, there can be no scope for delay in transmission, as this will increase the chance of an unsuccessful strike or the risk of unacceptable collateral damage. This requires adequate bandwidth and a permanent communication link. Any nation that is going to use satcom to control and receive product from its drones must therefore either have sufficient access to military satcom or be prepared to pay the (considerable) sums required to provide the necessary commercial satellite time. It follows that satcom-equipped drones are likely to be limited to those nations with this type of access. In 1993, in response to an urgent requirement from the US Air Force as
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part of the Tier 1 Medium Altitude Endurance programme, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems equipped a Gnat 750 with a top-mounted pod containing a satcom payload as a test-of-concept platform. During the principal demonstration in October 1993 the aircraft was launched from California and controlled by personnel in Washington DC. The system was designed, built and flown in only six months. A contract was subsequently awarded in January 1994 and 18 months later the system was flying operationally. From these beginnings there is now a number of drones that are flying operationally with a satcom capability. The largest of these is the RQ-4A/B Global Hawk, for which Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor and which has an Integrated Communications System (ICS) supplied by L-3 Communications. This has an X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) line-of-sight common datalink, a Ku-band (12.5 to 18 GHz) satellite communication system and UHF (300 MHz to 3 GHz) C2 satellite communication/line-of-sight links. Central to the ICS is the Common Airborne Modem Assembly (Cama). The Ku-band satcom system includes a 1.2-metre-diameter, three-axis, steerable, parabolic dish antenna with automatic acquisition, a High-Power Amplifier (HPA), a High-Voltage Power Supply (HVPS) and a Satellite Communications Radio Frequency Amplifier (SCRFA).

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Drone satcom

The bulbous nose of the Global Hawk houses the satcom antenna. The UHF satcom batwing antenna can be seen on top of the engine nacelle. (Northrop Grumman)

The Cama, SCRFA, HVPS and HPA are located to port in the vehicle's forward avionics bay, while the dish antenna is installed in the radome above the platform's nose. The system is compatible with Intelsat. The UHF satcom portion of the integrated communication system, which is used for command and control of the aircraft, consists of a transceiver, a power amplifier and a low-noise amplifier/ diplexer and uses a 'batwing' antenna that is located on top of the engine nacelle. There is also an Inmarsat satcom capability as a back-up command and control facility, incorporating at least two internal electronics units and using an external antenna that is mounted in a ventral 'teardrop' radome. US Air Force Global Hawks are either controlled from Beale AFB in California or from a deployed AN/MSQ-131 Global Hawk Ground Segment (produced by Raytheon), consisting of a four-person RD-2A Mission Control Element and a two-person RD-2B Launch and Recovery Element, each housed in a transportable tactical shelter complete with power and environmental units. A single ground segment can control up to three air vehicles simultaneously. Either the Ku-band or the UHF systems can be used. The sensor product can also be made available to others with suitable communications and reception equipment. A derivate of the RQ-4B, known as Euro Hawk, is being procured by Germany with the first delivery planned in 2010. The RQ-4B is also the basis for Northrop Grumman's solution for the US Navy's Bams (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance) programme, for which lowrate initial production is planned for US fiscal year 2011 and initial operational capability in 2014. In both cases the integrated communication system is likely to be upgraded, although few details of what this might entail are available at present except for the general desire for smaller, lighter, cheaper, more capable equipment. It is likely that the Bams satcom will include an Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) capability, as the follow-on to the current US Department of Defense Milstar system is the planned AEHF constellation, the first launch of which is scheduled for 2008.

The AEHF will provide ten times the capability of its predecessor. The other principal American family of satcom-capable drones is the GA-ASI Predator and its variants RQ-1A, MQ1B, MQ-1C Sky Warrior, MQ-9 Reaper Predator B and Mariner (although, as the General Atomics photograph in our title indicates, a Gnat was used for initial tests

The Gnat 750 with a top-mounted pod containing a satcom payload first flew as a test-of-concept platform in 1993. (GA-ASI)

back in 1993). They also use a Ku-band satcom datalink. The on-board package consists of a 75-cm-diameter three-axis steerable, parabolic dish antenna plus a Signal Processor Modem Assembly (SPMA). The antenna is mounted centrally in the bulbous nose of the aircraft with the SPMA behind and to starboard. As with the Global Hawk, there seems to be no alternate UHF satcom system. Line-of-sight communications are provided by a C-Band datalink. The US Air Force controls many of its Predator flights from the Predator Oper-

ations Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. There are a number of different Ground Control Stations (GCS) for the Predator, all provided by GA-ASI, using the satcom datalink to control the drone. A standard station has pilot and payload operator stations, each with multi-function workstations with data exploitation, mission planning and search and rescue control capabilities. The Multi Aircraft Control variant, in service with the US Air Force, allows control of four aircraft from one ground station. The crew consists of one pilot and four sensor operators. The pilot can dynamically select which aircraft is under direct control, while the sensor operators maintain continuous control of sensors; they can control the drone with point-and-click commands. The Portable Ground Control Station is a suitcase-portable equipment set weighing less than 45 kg. It enables the operator to exercise complete control, including launch and recovery and sensor control. Two such portable stations mounted in a Hummer (HMMWV) form the High Mobility GCS, which is currently in use by the US Army. In mid-2007 General Atomics announced that it had successfully trialled a new generation cockpit, the enhancements of which include: an optimised crew station design with intuitive controls and information displays, touchscreen technology, anthropometric considerations such as adjustable displays, controls, and ergonomic seating, fused situational awareness data providing a common operating picture on a single display, improved synthetic video with graphical overlays, a 120 field-of-view with terrain avoidance and threats/special-use air space embedded into 3D graphics and high-definition video feeds. In all cases the ground stations require a Ku-band satellite terminal to provide communication with the drone. L-3 Communications provides alternatives according to the requirement. At the larger end of the scale is the companys trailermounted 6.2-metre Tri-band Transportable Earth Terminal, which provides C, Ku and X-band communication. At the other end is the AN/TSC-160 2.4-metre
This cutaway drawing shows the disposition of the Global Hawks principle sensors, including the L-3 Communications UHF satellite communications aerial installed on the top of the engine fairing. (Northrop Grumman)

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Drone satcom

The new-generation Predator cockpit which was trialled by General Atomics in mid-2007. It aims at providing increased ergonomics, particularly through touch screens and fused situational awareness data. (General Atomics)

Deployable Multi-Channel Satcom (DMCS), which can be transported in transit cases. A significant segment of the ground element of American drone systems i.e. in their use by those at the sharp end has been the development of the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (Rover). Now in its 3rd version (Rover III) and made by L-3 Communications, the Rover is a portable receiveonly terminal that displays sensor data from a number of airborne platforms, including drones. It consists of Ku-band and C-band omni-directional antennas, a receiver and a display, which is standardising on the DRS Hammerhead MultiRole Terminal (MRT). It provides realtime full-motion video from the airborne sensor, which dramatically improves surveillance and targeting at the tactical level. Over 2000 Rover III systems have so far been delivered to US-based customers with another 1000 on order. In addition, Australia, Canada, Britain and Norway are all known to have purchased the system, and other nations may have had systems passed on to them by American authorities. An upgraded version, the Rover 4, is expected to be ready for production at the end of 2007.This will add an S-band capability and will also allow image metadata

to be passed as well as the images themselves, which is important for targeting. In the pipeline is the Rover 5, a newgeneration concept that is being developed with US National Security Agency (NSA) participation. A hand-held system, its weight will be reduced from twelve to less than five pounds and it will provide both receive and transmit capabilities, enabling the user to control the sensors directly.Theoretically it could also be used to control the drone, but this is unlikely to happen in the near term, especially with a platform the size of the Predator. At present there is some discussion between the US Army and Air Force over future control of the Predator programme, and this will affect any possible upgrades. The MQ-1C Sky Warrior is under development for the US Army and it is possible that this variant will have an X-band satcom capability and be equipped with a Multi-Role Common Data Link. The dominant US military satcom frequency bands for the next decade will be the X and Ka bands, principally because of the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS) constellation, the first (of five) of which was launched on 10 October of this year. Boeing reported that it had received the first signals from the WGS (now called the Wideband Global Satcom)
A Predator operator controlling the aircraft via satellite link from a ground control station based at Balad in Iraq. Interestingly, the operators shoulder badge displays an armed Predator to clearly boast the muscle factor with the following motto: Were not drones, we fire back. (General Atomics)

satellite the following day. These five WGS satellites will each provide eight X- and ten Ka-band spot beams, full earth X-band cover and X-to-Ka and Ka-to-X cross-banding. A digital channeliser divides the uplink bandwidth into nearly 1900 independently routable 2.6 MHz sub-channels, providing any-coverage-toany-coverage connectivity. Depending on the mix of ground terminals, data rates and modulation schemes employed, each satellite can support data transmission rates ranging from 2.4 Gbps to more than 3.6 Gbps, a dramatic improvement over the current DSCS III satellite support of up to 0.25 Gbps. X-band satcom is likely to become increasingly used in satcom-on-the-move programmes, which are important to the US Army's future command and control concepts and an integral part of programmes such as the Warfighter Information Network - Tactical (Win-T). It would

The L-3 Communications-West AN/TSC160 2.4-metre Deployable MultiChannel Satcom (DMCS) antenna is a unit that can be transported in transit cases. (L-3 Communications)

therefore be attractive to the US Army for its major drone systems to have an X-band capability. Once the discussions over programme control have been finalised it is likely that the development for all Predators will be along the Sky Warrior X-band route. General Atomics is also offering a competitor for the Bams contract in the form of a Predator variant known as the Mariner.This would seem to be following the same developmental path as that envisaged for the Sky Warrior, in that it is being offered with X-/Ka-Band Wideband and Inmarsat UHF Demand Assigned Multiple Access (Dama) narrowband satcom capability. Britain has acquired four Predator Bs during the course of 2007, together with an associated ground station package, having had personnel (1115 Flight) stationed at Nellis AFB since 2004 gaining operational experience as pilots and controllers.

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Drone satcom

The L-3 Communications-West trailer-mounted 6.2-metre Tri-band Transportable Earth Terminal providing C, Ku and X-band communication. (L-3 Communications-West)

It is worth noting that the Watchkeeper programme, which will use a derivative of the Hermes 450, will not be equipped with a beyond-line-of-sight system. Ruag of Switzerland unveiled its Super Ranger shortly before the Paris Air Show in 2007. The drone was shown with the option of a nose-mounted Kuband satcom capability, with possibly a UHF backup. Later the same year, however,Armada was told by a company representative at DSEi that it was unlikely this route would be pursued. The Russian Zond and Chinese ASN207 and WZ-2000 UAVs are also satcomequipped they have the telltale bulbous nose but no information is available on what these systems might be. What of the future? As drones become more ubiquitous there may be wider use of satcom. However, the need to operate a beyond-line-of-sight system is likely to be limited to a small number of countries. In the view of Al Modrovsky of L-3 Communications-West, the future develThis model of the Sukhoi Zond-2 project, in addition to what appears to be an early warning aerial mounted on the spine of the fuselage, also suggests the presence of a satellite communication suite under a glider-like canopy. (Armada/EHB)

Italy also procured five Predators in 2004, with a ground station made by Meteor (now Galileo). Although the original aircraft were not equipped with satcom, they were due to be upgraded in 2006, but it is not clear whether this has been achieved. Israel makes considerable use of drones, and so it is not surprising that satcom-equipped platforms have been developed there as well. The Malat division of Israeli Aerospace Industries produces the Heron family. This includes the Heron 1 and the Heron TP, the latter (and much larger) first appearing at the Paris Air Show in 2007. Each has the telltale bulbous nose to accommodate IAI's EL/K-1891 full duplex X- or Ku-band satcom antenna. This is offered with either a 25 10 cm planar array or an 80-cm-diameter dish, both on a dual axis stabilised pedestal. The EL/K-1891 provides a data rate of up to 128 Kbps. The Heron airframe is also the basis for the EADS Eagle 1. This is being procured to meet a French Air Force requirement for a medium-altitude longendurance system known as the Sidm (Systme Interimaire de Drone Male). The French Air Force order is for 24 air vehicles and 25 GCS.The satcom solution selected by EADS for the system is uncertain, although it might be based on Astrium's Master airborne satellite ter-

minal also believed to be fitted on the British Nimrod MRA4. Some of the Elbit Hermes family, notably the 900 and 1500, are also satcom equipped. Although no information is available about the systems used, they may be related to the Globalight broadband system produced through a joint venture between Elbit and Gilat Satellite Networks. At DefExpo 2006 they announced a maritime derivative of the Elbit Globalight 2 terminal, intended to provide wideband Satcom connectivity to ships. It connects the users to an IP network, supporting simultaneous exchange of voice, video and data. The terminal utilises advanced Vsat technology (Gillat Skyedge) and a 3-axis stabilized tracking antenna. Such an antenna could be equally applicable to a drone.

opment of drone satcom will revolve around a reduction in size and weight and improvements in capability. Modems are decreasing in size at rate akin to 'Moore's Law' for computers: What was once in a box is now on a card, and soon single modems will be able to handle multiple waveforms simultaneously. While this reduces some payload, there is only limited scope for reducing the size of a satcom antenna, once the aperture size has reached the minimum. The wide use of electronically steered antennas can reduce the size, but at present these are prohibitively expensive. Additionally they have lower effective gain, require more satellite resources and therefore also cost proportionally more in satellite lease rates when commercial satellites a are being used.

While their respective manufacturers are shy about the systems they embark, the Elbit Hermes 900 and IAI Heron TP presented at the 2007 Paris Air Show could do little to hide their satellite communication capability. (Armada/EHB)

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