The U.S. military has been examining the possibility of utilizing lasers instead of radio frequencies to transmit data—a technology known as “free-space optical communications”—for decades in an effort to combat the shrinking amount of radio spectrum available for military use. In recent years, the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles has forced the military to lease time on commercial satellites in order to transmit live, streaming video to bases around the world. This demand is only expected to increase with the development of higher resolution, next-generation equipment.
Now, several defense contractors say that after years of development, the laser communications technology is ready to be widely fielded. Similar to fiber-optic cable, laser communications transmits ones and zeroes in a data stream through narrow beams of energy.
“We’re talking data rates that can be 100 to 1,000 times or more greater than what you can get with [radio frequency] data links,” Michael Perry, vice president of the laser-electric optic business unit in General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.’s reconnaissance systems group, said. “[It’s like] Morse code, but at ridiculously high rates.”
Advocates for the adoption of laser communications have pointed out that because laser communications do not utilize any of the radio spectrum, potential interference in overcrowded airwaves is prevented. Laser communications are also “inherently protected,” as an enemy would have to place an object or receiver in the path of the beam in order to disrupt or intercept the data transmission.
“You have a tremendous amount of bandwidth that allows you the flexibility to transmit the [intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance] information in a timely manner,” Gary Tarantino, manager of advanced systems and strategic initiatives at ITT Exelis, said.
However, the laser beams require a “line of sight” between two points to communicate, and cannot bend or penetrate buildings. In order to effectively implement the new technology on a large scale, the military will need to invest in redesigning their communication satellites and institute a major change in infrastructure.
The Air Force Research Laboratory is currently completing work on ground-terminal technology development for high speed terrestrial laser communications.
