Governments and militaries around the world rely on satellite communications, for defense: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and for Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR). The US Department of Defense (DoD) alone, is the largest user of satellite capacity in the world. Usage is split between MILSATCOM (military) and COMSATCOM (commercial) satellites. In recent years usage of commercial capacity has been growing, and NSR is predicting a CAGR of almost 32% over a ten-year period to 2028, rising from consumption of 30 Gbps in 2018 to 480 Gbps in 2028. Bulk leasing will account for almost 40% of that capacity by 2028.
Key Market Drivers
One of the things causing this rise in use of COMSATCOM is the falling bandwidth prices, caused by a vast increase in supply, as a result of the advent of high throughput and very high throughput satellites (HTS and VHTS). In 2018, just two years ago, the average price per Mbps per month ranged from ~US$650 to US$850, now it’s just over US$300 to US$500 and NSR is projecting a further fall to US$300-425 next year. Government and military users respond to the same commercial drivers as the commercial market does. The difference however, is that numerous other criteria, unique to these markets have to be satisfied as well.
Overall, resilience, security and agility are the key drivers; for the ground infrastructure the ability to provide multi-band, multi-orbit and multi-network capabilities are key requirements. In the words of General Colin Powell: “The ultimate goal is simple: give the battlefield commander access to all the information needed to win the war. And give it to him when he wants it and how he wants it.” That statement was made in 1992. A lot has changed since then, making satisfying that goal a much more complex proposition. HTS were only a concept at that point in time, now they are commonplace and the second and third generations VHTS are being launched. Non-geostationary satellites (NGSOs) were on the drawing board for communications in the early 90s, but with the exception of Iridium, none saw commercial light of day. Now, we have a first-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellation, O3b, with mPOWER, the second more powerful and flexible generation scheduled for launch next year. Several low earth orbit (LEO) constellations are being developed including those from OneWeb, Starlink, Telesat, among others. The latter two have multiple satellites in orbit, although both of them are some time away from a commercial service launch.
The military is also dealing with the same explosion in data as the commercial world. The proliferation of smart devices is driving the importance of mobility. The modern soldier is rapidly becoming a walking communications center, being equipped with a variety of portable and wearable devices which may include: body cameras, headsets, goggles, smart phones and watches, and sensors all of which relay critical encrypted messages and data back to base and equally as important receive information. As if that wasn’t enough, military animals may also be equipped with a variety of sensors.
Videoconferencing on the move is becoming the norm and drones may be controlled from the smart phones. Couple all this with a base, that no longer changes every few days to avoid detection, but now moves every few hours, and the need for agile, resilient, secure, easy to use, always-on communications-on-the-move (COTM) and communications-on-the-pause (COTP) becomes apparent.
Information is power. Military operations are becoming more complex. A vast amount of data is generated by modern warfare equipment. Continuous data streams needed for situational awareness, for planning and executing maneuvers will come from other units, from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), from field communications nodes, and headquarters. This could be ISR ultra-high definition video (UHD), sensor data, and/or strategic information. This data load will only increase as information from 5G technology, machine to machine (M2M) and Internet of military things (IoMT) sensors and devices, becomes more commonplace. Systems that offer maximum throughput and efficiency are therefore vital to enable units in the field to make informed decisions on the fly.
Changes are on-going in the air as well. UAVs continue to proliferate, and as the number of onboard cameras steadily increase so too does the quality of the video that they transmit back to base; moving from standard definition (SD) through high definition (HD) and now ultra-high definition (UHD). A briefing from Avascent showed that the total number of UAVs and the total data from those UAVs will both double in the ten-year period to 2025.
Security is important for any communications system, however, for government and military use it is paramount and additional layer or layers of security have to be built into the communications protocols, which is why take-up of new devices and methodologies, usually lags commercial usage. Nevertheless, governments and militaries around the world, want and need access to the latest technology. As Doug Schroeder, oversight executive of the US DOD’s Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, commented during a panel at Satellite 2020 in Washington DC, earlier this year: “Any user, using any terminal, anywhere to seamlessly connect to any other user, using any other terminal, anywhere.” This comment was made in the context of explaining that the US DoD wants satellite operators and other companies to offer “visions of a new seamless communication system for the US military.”
Governments and militaries rarely act in total isolation these days, whether cooperation comes through NATO, the Five Eyes or other alliances, these independent coalition forces need to be able to easily communicate, so that need to “seamlessly connect to any other user” extends far beyond national boundaries. For this reason, in recent years, industry attention has been focused on multi-faceted solutions that can effortlessly switch not only between different satellites and frequency bands, but also between different orbits, whilst at the same time providing the required level of security. Being able to offer this flexibility between satellites and orbits provides several advantages:
Using the same ground infrastructure and terminals, systems can be spread over several satellites, so preventing a total loss in the event of an accidental or deliberate service interruption.
Similarly, this allows for the separation of MWR service from critical ISR operations.
In the event of accidental or deliberate loss of service, it can be quickly restored by switching to another satellite or frequency band.
One of the key requirements for any satcom system is resilience, but for government and military systems it is paramount as those systems frequently have to deal with numerous additional threats including cyberattacks, jamming and even counter-space weapons. Service restoration needs to be rapid.
The WGS certified MDM9000 Satellite Modem is a high performance, versatile modem optimized for a wide range of fixed and mobile government and defense applications over satellite.
Ease of use is also important as staff in the operational units in the field may not have telecommunications and satellite expertise therefore systems need to be foolproof and simple to use.
As always, the satellite industry loves a challenge and the key players, particularly those working in the ground segment, are rising to the occasion. Many of them, to a greater or lesser extent, offer products that support the military. Two that spring to mind are Gilat and Hughes. Gilat provides Block Upconverters (BUCs) to the US DoD. Its military portfolio also includes complete VSAT solutions that fit into a backpack. Hughes, offers Class 3 and 4 UAVs a beyond line of sight (BLoS) communications system, it also provides a way for rotary wing aircraft to transmit video and data direct to a HTS through rotating blades with no packet loss. However, one company stands out, and that is ST Engineering iDirect.
ST Engineering iDirect
The company prides itself on working closely with military end users and agencies, not only to understand their basic needs, but also how they are going to use the equipment. ST Engineering iDirect focuses on the international defense and government market serving 21 EU nations and 19 NATO member states, through its Belgium based Eu proxy. In addition, the wholly-owned subsidiary, iDirect Government, which operates independently under a proxy agreement, is the market leading provider for the US DoD.
A key element of the products available from the company is the fact that they support both sovereign or shared MILSATCOM as well as COMSATCOM, and will work with both in tandem. So a nation is free to employ a mix of capabilities, as well as managed services if this is its preference. ST Engineering iDirect’s VSAT platforms are built to support satellite programs now and in the future.
It is therefore important that any ground equipment is certified to operate on key military satellites. ST Engineering iDirect has a complete portfolio of Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) certified products, including specific versions of Evolution Defense software and hardware, which is at the heart of the solutions ST Engineering iDirect offer to governments and militaries around the world. The tactical hub and 9-Series family of modems are also certified. The MDM9000 modem, now one of the most powerful DVB-S2X modems operating on the WGS constellation is the latest ST Engineering iDirect product to receive certification. “Our latest WGS certification marks another significant milestone in our efforts to deliver military-grade communications solutions which can provide the bandwidth, flexibility and security required by global militaries to carry out missions successfully and reliably,” said Koen Willems, Head of International Government and Defense Strategy at ST Engineering iDirect. “We are proud that the modem has passed the stringent evaluation and testing of the certification process and can join our vast portfolio of accredited government and defense solutions.”
As already mentioned the key requirements for government and military communications systems are: agility, security and resilience. At the same time, these systems need to be easy to use, as most remote units don’t include trained satellite engineers. These criteria represent the keystone of all ST Engineering iDirect’s products for military and government users.
Agility
ST Engineering iDirect’s solutions for the government and military markets are based around a single unified IP-based satellite communications architecture, enabling seamless integration with existing infrastructure and interoperability with all IP-based devices and friendly forces’ networks.
The Evolution® Defense product line features flexible hubs and line cards, versatile satellite modems, and advanced communications technologies. The Universal Hub can support multiple networks on up to 20 line cards, while the compact Tactical Hub is ideal in mobile environments. When paired with the receive Defense Line Card (DLC-R), the 9-Series modems can reach up to 29 Msps on a single carrier for tremendous Adaptive TDMA performance. This allows support for bandwidth-intensive applications such as ISR.
For effective bandwidth management, the Group Quality of Service (GQoS) provides a comprehensive set of powerful, state-of-the-art features that bring dimensions and options for traffic configuration and prioritization in a shared network. This can span multiple applications, remotes and even sub-networks.
Military systems must be able to provide mobility: being able to follow a foot soldier, a moving vehicle or an airborne asset is of upmost importance. Vehicles need to be equipped with broadband, and the connected soldier on the move, needs to have continuous access to updated threat analysis and troop movements, and also, if necessary, be able to utilize telemedicine applications. Equally important is the information that is being transmitted back to base from troops on the move.
Similarly, airborne assets need to be constantly connected as they move across and between satellite footprints. All this has to happen automatically without any human intervention, and the built-in Automatic Beam Switching (ABS) integral to ST Engineering iDirect’s equipment, enables this by determining the precise moment to redirect antennas and allow connectivity to be assigned to the most appropriate satellite beam.
If it is necessary the whole system can be made into a compact, portable communications system that can be carried into the field by an individual, or installed onto aeronautical vehicles. Hubs, line cards and remotes are hardened for transport and use in harsh environments. The system uses power-saving features to ensure long battery life by only turning on the amplifier when transmitting. At the same time size, weight and power (SWaP) considerations are taken into account so as to be able to provide easier transportation and better form fit.
Spread spectrum technology allows the use of the small antennas needed for COTM and reduces the chance of interference to adjacent satellites by spreading out bandwidth and power.
Security
Obviously, end-to-end security is paramount for military operations, everything including the location, type and amount of information and of course content needs to be highly protected. ST Engineering iDirect is proud their wholly owned subsidiary iDirect Governemnt was awarded the Top Cybersecurity Solution Award from the Mobile Satellite Users Association for its transmission security, TRANSEC, which is one of the most user-friendly security systems currently available. TRANSEC is part of the Defense-in-Depth solution offered by ST Engineering iDirect. Defense-in-Depth brings together many strategies to mitigate threats by presenting multiple obstacles to potential hackers.
Other parts of ST Engineering iDirect’s Defense-in-Depth solution include compliance with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 Level 3 certified encryption, and 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Different levels are required depending on what is being transmitted, and the Evolution® platform can simultaneously operate at multiple security levels as needed. At the highest level the size and content of all user and network link layer traffic is completely undetectable to adversaries.
Evolution® remote software includes SHIELD remote protection. SHIELD is a service where information assurance (IA) scans are conducted to evaluate a device for vulnerabilities that hackers could use to access a system or network. The user is then provided a Remote Security Bulletin (RSB) to implement in order to mitigate these risks. This feature is available on all 9-Series satellite modems including airborne variants.
Resilience
Redundant hub and line card configurations and geo-redundant operations options, enable the system to perform critical failover in the event of an incident occurring at the teleport or hub, thereby ensuring maximum redundancy and increased reliability.
Interference is a known and increasing problem in satcom, whether intentional or accidental the damage can be profound. With the increasing numbers of NGOs it is inevitable that not only the number of interference and jamming events will increase, but so will the complexity of tracking them down and taking appropriate mitigating steps. ST Engineering iDirect’s Glowlink Product Line provides a number of technologies to deal with this issue. Firstly, it has an industry-leading geolocation solution, allowing the location of inappropriate signals wherever they originate, secondly, it has a signal monitoring system enabling teleport operators to keep track of multiple signals simultaneously. And most importantly it has a signal excision technology known as Communication Signal Interference Removal (CSIR™). CSIR can identify and remove the source of interference without the need for additional bandwidth. Traditional anti-jamming products rely on spread spectrum and therefore require a significant amount of additional bandwidth to remove even the smallest jamming signal. Frequently in military environments that additional bandwidth simply isn’t available. ST Engineering iDirect has both a stand-alone CSIR product that can work with any modem, and a built-in version incorporated into its 9-series modems. CSIR can mitigate interference from a variety of sources, with no added complexity for system operators.
CSIR is designed to effectively mitigate a wide range of interferers from continuous wave (CW) to multiple strong interferers, without requiring any prior information on those interferers. The product can mitigate unknown interference in a variety of scenarios with zero added complexity for anyone on staff or, as mentioned, additional bandwidth requirements.
Ease of Use
In order to keep the system easy to use, ST Engineering iDirect’s iVantage Network Management System (NMS) allows centralized control from a single location and makes it easy for non-technical users to quickly deploy new sites in the field. As remotes move between satellites and transponders, the Global NMS enables military organizations to monitor the location and performance of all remotes and when necessary correct performance degradation and troubleshoot and if appropriate perform a seamless switchover to a backup network in a matter of minutes.
Impact of Covid-19
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| To read or download a pdf of a report on Military Satellite Market sponsored by ST Engineering iDirect click here. |
The Government and Military satellite communications market, unlike many other sectors, is in the fortunate position of being relatively unscathed by Covid-19. If anything, short-term demand has increased, as governments around the world scramble to provide additional capacity to support the requirements arising from the provision of new telemedicine services and temporary medical facilities being built to deal with Covid-19 infections. According to a recent survey conducted by NSR, Government and Military was one of the market segments least likely to suffer as a result of Covid-19 and may in fact even see a positive impact. In many cases, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments alike have had an immediate, but short-term need for communications, which the satellite industry has been quick to respond to. For example, in order to help in the Piedmont region in Italy, which was one of the worst hit regions in the first wave of Covid-19 in Europe, SES, GovSat and the Luxembourg Department of Defense, came together to provide an end-to-end network for real time transmission of data from Covid-19 tests. Being able to transmit the tests and receive the results so quickly, enabled medical workers who tested negative to be able to carry on working.
Similarly, SES working with the Mexican government was able to deploy a telemedicine network to connect 35 public hospitals in less than three weeks.
Another example of the satellite industry helping government and military alike, is the way Telenor has responded. As part of its normal operations, Telenor works with the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defense Division, sharing expertise and resources to safeguard national security and emergency preparedness. In addition to this, in response to the crisis, Telenor stepped up to invest 15% of its revenue into infrastructure and network stability.
Whether for military, government or emergency needs, the world can count on the satellite industry to be there.
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Elisabeth Tweedie has over 20 years experience at the cutting edge of new commmunications entertainment technologies. She is the founder and President of Definitive Direction (www.definitivedirection.com), a consultancy that focuses on researching and evaluating the long-term potential for new ventures, initiating their development, and identifying and developing appropriate alliances. During her 10 years at Hughes Electronics, she worked on every acquisition and new business that the company considered during her time there. She can be reached at etweedie@definitivedirection.com
