New anti-jamming technology tested by The Boeing Co. earlier this week may make it easier and less expensive for the U.S. military to send secure communications via existing satellites.
During the Dec. 15 demonstration, Boeing sent a protected signal through the sixth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS-6) satellite. Engineers confirmed that the signal met all targets for accuracy and strength.
“This technology boosts the ability of warfighters to send protected information without enemy data interference by using currently available satellites that do not have anti-jamming technology of their own,” Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems, said.
Together with an earlier demonstration of data transmission the ViaSat-1 commercial satellite in July, the WGS-6 test suggests the technology to be an affordable option for enhancing anti-jam communications using existing commercial and U.S. government satellites and terminals. In both tests, the signal was transmitted using a commercial modem modified with anti-jamming features by ViaSat.
“The two demonstrations show the technology is flexible and able to be quickly deployed at a much lower cost than building a new satellite,” Cooning said.
Boeing plans to further develop and test the technology for compatibility with other terminals and systems in 2014.
