Satellite communications (SATCOM) provider ViaSat [VSAT] created a new radio frequency (RF) waveform for its VR-12 Ka-band airborne antenna system to transmit information through the rotors of a helicopter, according to a company executive.
ViaSat Vice President of Marketing within Global Mobile Broadband Communications Bob Varga told Defense Daily at the Association of United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington the company created a special algorithm and coding that can transmit RF through multiple rotating blades on a helicopter, independent on the number of blades or how quickly they rotate. Varga said ViaSat has performed initial tests at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., achieving rates of 10 to 12 megabits per second (mbps) in either direction, transmit or receive.
Varga said ViaSat has also shock-mounted the VR-12 so it can mitigate the intense vibrations and G-forces helicopters can create. The VR-12 is an ultra-small aperture 12 inch tracking antenna that are normally installed on large aircraft like King Airs, C-130s and Liberties. Varga said there are about 500 VR-12s flying today, mostly on the military side.
“This has been a great workhorse for us,” Varga said.
Varga said the next step for VR-12 is getting it on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). ViaSat has performed testing of the VR-12 on the Shadow M2 tactical UAV developed by AAI Corp. and that the tandem has “worked beautifully.”
ViaSat is also marketing an all-in-one SATCOM service package to potential military customers, centered on the best available satellite networks, Varga said. Unlike many companies in the SATCOM industry that specialize in either building satellites, operating satellites or building ground hardware such as antennas and terminals, ViaSat does all of these. It has its own satellite, ViaSat-1, which went live in early 2012. ViaSat also has satellite networks for fixed-site and mobile communications, satellite antenna systems, wireless datalinks and terminals, cybersecurity and information assurance and mobile internet protocol (IP) networking.
“What we’re going to do is lead the way to provide the best available networks, as the industry has this combination of Ku- and Ka-band satellites,” Varga said. “(We’ll) have the right antennas and service offerings and the right network for all that. It’s a network of networks.”
Varga said the speed in which ViaSat can set up a network is critical for success. Varga said the company was able to set up a high capacity network over Africa for a customer in about two weeks, while the quickest it has set up an emergency network for a customer is about 50 hours.
“Imagine now, in an emergency somewhere…where there really isn’t adequate coverage, then we’re the company you can come to and we can provide that quick response as well,” Varga said. “It’s a formidable strategy we’re putting together, but we think it is in the best interest of the customer and best interest of the industry.”
ViaSat has also developed an antenna system called the C-17 Hatch Mount Satellite Antenna (HMSA) as part of a joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) called Celestial Reach. Much larger and more rectangular than the company’s VR-12 antenna system, the HMSA can be easily rolled into an aircraft, dropped into the hatch and be ready to communicate. Varga said the HMSA can provide instant SATCOM capability to large widebody aircraft like C-17s that might not normally perform SATCOM missions.