State-of-the-art satcoms for theatre-wide operations

Today, a resilient communications capability with a secure satcom component plays a crucial role in the coordination of military operations.

Large-scale military operations take place over vast areas. Wherever they are in the theatre, land, air and naval units must increasingly work together, often in coalition with other forces. The successful outcome of these operations hinges on effective coordination and the ability to stay connected with the command structure at all times.

At each phase of the conflict, all elements and levels of the command chain must be able to share key tactical information in real time. The communication solutions that make this possible must be highly secure, highly available and also fully interoperable.

Complex requirements

Requirements vary and evolve with each phase of the conflict. At the reconnaissance phase, where commanders seek to gain a clear understanding of the tactical situation, UAVs, special-mission aircraft and combat aircraft need to transmit aerial imagery, video feeds and other information back to base in real time. This intelligence is then verified and supplemented by special forces on the ground. Next, more significant assets may be deployed, including a command post, vehicles, artillery, logistics, rear bases and even a makeshift airbase.

At the operations phase, communication networks need to cover all forces in the battlespace: land (dismounted infantry, vehicles on the move), air (special-mission and combat aircraft, helicopters) and naval assets.

The objective is not only to interconnect all these elements, but also enable commanders, sometimes thousands of miles from the conflict zone, to coordinate operations. Thales’s role is to provide the theatre-level backbone network that makes all these communications possible, from soldier tactical radios to the C2 centre in the field and military headquarters in the home country.

High-performance, resilient solutions

With its unique understanding of operational contexts, Thales offers a range of resilient, high-data-rate and fully secure communication solutions to meet the requirements of commanders today. The Nexium Theatre tactical communication solution from Thales is ideally suited to this type of complex configuration. The Nexium Sat component of the solution is designed to cover vast theatres (spanning 4,000 km in Mali, for example) and provide an effective land, air* and naval communications capability, from command centres to units on the move. The Thales offering is built around a core technology called System 21, a unique latest-generation multi-waveform modem. It is versatile, scalable and easy to use and supports secure**, jam-resistant voice and high-speed data transmissions.

To ensure maximum availability of communications, Nexium Sat uses a mix of military and commercial geostationary satellites. As a result, Nexium Sat can provide protected services almost anywhere around the globe.

Nexium Theatre uses complementary satellite solutions such as Iridium Next to provide forces on the move with instant connectivity at any point on the planet. Communications are maintained in even the most extreme circumstances, such as special forces deployed high in the Himalayas, for example.

The Nexium family of products includes a comprehensive range of ground segment solutions, from network and secure transmission solutions to land, air and naval terminals, and complete overall management with the Nexium Planet tool, which allows communications planning in line with the parameters of each mission. Nexium Mission Partner is used to configure, deploy and supervise the communication nodes (satcom transmission stations, line-of-sight radio, 4G / LTE, combat radio and network equipment). Nexium is built around Thales’s AMS (Advanced Military Services) network software solution, which allows dynamic management of all communications carried via these nodes, and Thales Net IP, which ensures optimal use of bandwidth across these constrained networks.

The quality of Thales solutions — their high levels of resilience, security, robustness and availability — is thanks in large part to the company’s unmatched ability to operate military communication servers that allow coordination of and dialogue between all deployed assets.

Thales’s high-end, field-proven communication solutions are making a valuable contribution to the battlespace of the future.
 

See our Nexium solutions in action in this video specially produced for the Paris Air Show 2017, featuring a hostage release scenario in a remote theatre.

*UAVs and helicopters now, special-mission aircraft from 2020
**Secure voice and data transmissions and network security