Significant technological developments, particularly in cyber warfare, electromagnetic spectrum operations (EMSO), and precision fires, are fast becoming more accessible to opponents, thereby threatening to change the delicate landscape of global security and power dynamics.

According to Comtech’s Chief Strategy Officer and President of the Company’s Satellite Network Technologies business, Daniel Gizinski, today’s threat landscape looks wildly different from five to 10 years ago.

“There’s been a dramatic adjustment, both in terms of the capabilities and how and where they’re being deployed,” he explained.

“We’ve seen some pretty significant developments as a result of innovations and change, and over the last several years, we’ve had the opportunity to look at very different levels of what’s possible and what can be done. And from a product development and program fielding perspective, this change has put a lot of emphasis on how we design and develop products that can last over a long-term period in the field,” he continued to describe.

According to Daniel, the pivot towards strategic competition presents an “enormous challenge” to the US Department of Defense (DoD) and its international partners as they look to build and design products capable of being fielded for the next 10 to 25 years.

To support the warfighter both today and in the future, Comtech continues to focus on upgrading legacy systems as well as the development of emerging, next-generation technologies.

“The net result of this change has been a shift away from the development of bigger, more expensive, more hardened systems including advanced wideband waveforms and satellites capable of tolerating levels of spectral interference towards enormous investment in building out resilience in connectivity,” Daniel explained.

“Resilience on the battlefield lies in the diversity of multiple networks capable of providing the necessary levels of connectivity to route traffic via the best available network. Ultimately, the goal isn’t necessarily to keep a network running at all costs—it’s to keep data getting to the right place at all costs. And there are sometimes more efficient ways to do that, and you must bake in that headroom and that ability to adapt via software updates to maintain pace with a rapidly changing threat,” he added.

Uniquely Positioned

Consequently, Comtech continues to focus efforts on a series of technology areas of interest to support DoD and international partners.

Focus areas include Assured Communications and EMSO, with Daniel explaining how the company remains “hyper-focused” on the transition away from heavily stove-piped satellite systems towards digital satellite ground infrastructure and other capabilities that allow the warfighter to rapidly reconstruct networks based on the requirements of any given day.

Similar sentiments were shared by Comtech’s Executive Vice President of Business Development and Sales, Roly Rigual, who explained how Assured Communications can support operations against near-peer adversaries today and in the future.

“It’s been a long time since the major powers have had to ‘fight to get to the fight’ so assured and protected communications are more important today than ever,” Roly explained, highlighting the proliferation of multi-orbit (LEO, MEO, and GEO) constellations.

“It’s just starting, but there’s a lot of technology that still needs to be developed and deployed alongside the relevant standards supported by the ground infrastructure. I believe Comtech is in a very good position to help the customer solve these challenges,” he said.

In terms of EMSO, Comtech has focused on developing new understandings and techniques over the past decade, particularly relating to improved coordination of electronic attacks and electronic support through communications.

Dual Use Expertise

As it continues to support DoD and international partners, Comtech benefits from expertise in both commercial and defense markets.

“As a company that’s got its roots in dual-use technology development, we design a lot of cutting-edge commercial technologies with a unique set of abilities and capabilities to develop defense articles,” Daniel explained.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say one is universally ahead of the other, but having a foot in both camps allows us to take clever commercial innovations and bring them to the defense market and vice versa.”

Daniel highlighted satellite and troposcatter communication solutions as two of the most relevant dual-use capabilities that, when stitched together, can offer DoD and international partners significant value across a battlespace.

Specific Comtech successes include the US Army’s Enterprise Digital Intermediate Frequency Modem (EDIM) program, which has its roots in commercially developed technology. Awarded a contract in October 2023, Comtech is on track to deliver an initial tranche of systems to the army in the coming months.

Elsewhere, Comtech continues to support a resurgence in Troposcatter technologies across the US Army, Marine Corps, and international partners.

“Troposcatter was viewed as legacy technology-heavy, expensive, and hard to deploy. But it’s been fun to see the look of realization and appreciation that sets in with certain customers when they realize the art of the possible with modern solutions,” Daniel said.

Furthermore, Comtech is in the process of rolling out a next-generation of satellite modems capable of supporting exquisite platforms such as combat air aircraft.

“We recently received an award to bring some of the most advanced military jets into the overall network, so this is a pretty exciting growth opportunity and part of a new modem family we’re in the process of releasing over the next six or so months,” Daniel said.

Finally, Comtech remains dedicated to ensuring customers benefit from ‘Zero Trust Architecture’ as they move away from traditional network-centric infrastructures towards more data-centric models.

“One of the biggest challenges we see is bridging legacy and new networks together. I think everyone likes to imagine that we will flip a light switch and have zero trust architecture rolled out next year, but it’s going to be a 10-plus year roll-out process,” he concluded.

As the contemporary operating environment continues to change, so too must connectivity products and solutions over the long term to ensure the warfighter benefits from truly resilient communications.

Only increasing levels of investment and diverse inventories of products and concepts of operation will support those who need it most as they continue to observe uplifts in asymmetric warfare around the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information in this blog post contains statements that are forward-looking in nature and involve certain significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance could differ materially from such forward-looking information. The Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings identify many such risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking information in this blog post is qualified in its entirety by the risks and uncertainties described in such Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Operations in Contested/Congested Satellite Environments

Intro

In our increasingly interconnected world, satellite communications have become a cornerstone of modern communication networks, enabling global connectivity for everything from connecting rural communities to navigation and surveillance. However, according to US Space Command (August 31, 2023), as the demand for satellite bandwidth grows and more actors enter the space arena, the once-uncongested satellite environment is becoming increasingly contested. The contention poses significant challenges to traditional satellite communications systems, leading to exploration of alternative solutions. One such solution that has gained renewed attention is tropospheric scatter, or Troposcatter, communications.

Contested Satellite Environment

Satellite communication has long been favored for its ability to provide wide coverage and high bandwidth connectivity across vast distances. This advantage, however, according to the European Space Agency (April 21, 2022), has led to an overcrowded space environment. A similar finding by the Union of Concerned Scientists (January 1, 2023), indicates that governments, militaries,  and corporations,  are launching more satellites into orbit, resulting in increased competition for radio frequency (RF) spectrum and potential interference issues. Moreover, the emergence of anti-satellite technologies and rapid evolution of satellite-targeted cyber threats have raised concerns about the reliability and security of traditional satellite communications systems.

Understanding Troposcatter Communication

Troposcatter communications is a technology that leverages the scattering of radio waves in the Earth’s troposphere – the lower portion of the atmosphere – to establish communications links over distances  beyond the radio horizon or beyond line of site (BLOS). Today, modern Troposcatter technologies send signals towards the troposphere, where they interact with atmospheric particles and scatter in various directions. A receiver located within the scatter region can pick up the signal enabling robust, resilient, and secure communications between the transmitter and receiver.

Advantages in Contested Environments

 Comtech’s next generation Troposcatter Family of Systems offer several advantages in contested satellite environments:

1. Resistance to Jamming: Unlike traditional satellite signals that can be vulnerable to jamming or interference, Troposcatter signals are more resistant due to their reliance on atmospheric scattering. Attempts to jam a Troposcatter link would require jamming a significant portion of the Earth’s atmosphere, making such efforts impractical.
2. Reduced Susceptibility to Cyberattacks: Troposcatter connections provide a smaller attack surface than broad area satellite beams, increasing the difficulty, cost, and complexity of launching a successful cyberattack. This inherent security advantage makes Troposcatter an attractive option for transmitting sensitive information.
3. Distributed Architecture: Troposcatter technologies are designed with distributed architecture, enabling multiple relay stations to create a network that can adapt to changing conditions. This flexibility is particularly valuable in contested environments where fixed satellite infrastructure might be compromised.
4. Lower Latency: Modern Troposcatter systems offer lower latency compared to satellite communications, as the signal does not have to travel all the way to space and back. This can be crucial for real-time applications like video conferencing or remote-control critical systems.
5. Spectrum Efficiency: As spectrum becomes a limited resource in contested environments, Troposcatter can make more efficient use of available frequency bands, potentially mitigating spectrum congestion.

Comtech’s Troposcatter Family of Systems

Comtech’s portfolio of defense and security technologies, including the company’s Troposcatter FoS, are uniquely positioned to deliver capabilities that will enhance Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) operations. The company has extensive experience developing and deploying customized, interoperable, robust, and resilient communications systems for all branches of the DOD and coalition forces. Comtech’s expansive portfolio of defense and security technologies is designed to continuously evolve over time to meet emerging Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) use cases and enhance mission effectiveness in future all domain command and control operations.

This article is the fifth in a series that will focus on important Troposcatter use cases including: Relay Link Replacement, Troposcatter Communications on the Move, Obstructed Line of Sight Communications, Operations in Contested/Congested Satellite Environments, and Extension of Services.

Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS meets the CJADC2 communication needs. Contact a Comtech representative at contact us, to discuss how Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your organization

 Learn more about the Troposcatter Family of Systems below.

1. Introduction

2. Relay Link Replacement

3. Communications on the Move

4. Obstructed Line of Sight

5. Operations in Contested / Congested Environments

Imagine the challenge of setting up communication links in areas, where tall buildings, bridges, mountains, and various structures obstruct direct line-of-sight between transmitting and receiving stations. Traditionally, long-distance communication systems known as Troposcatter transmission were used in remote and harsh environments. But now, thanks to advancements in smaller next generation Troposcatter technologies, like those developed by Comtech, this technology can be applied for shorter distance communication links in a wide range of scenarios.

In environments, distances ranging from 1 to 10 kilometers often require communication over Obstructed Line-of-Sight (OLOS) links. The cityscape, battlefield, disaster scenario, and rural communities are filled with buildings, vegetation, vehicles, signs, and power cables that reflect radio signals, causing them to take multiple and unpredictable paths to reach their destination.

These geographic challenges presented a new opportunity for innovation, and Comtech saw it in the troposphere, the lowest portion of the atmosphere located about 8 to 15 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. Comtech’s Troposcatter Family of Systems (FoS) enable communications beyond the horizon. Radio signals travel through this layer of the atmosphere through forward scatter, where irregularities in the atmosphere’s refractive index create multiple radio paths, known as multipath transmission.

Dealing with multipath transmission can be challenging due to transmission delays over different signal paths and something called Short-term fading. This phenomenon results in rapid and deep changes in the signal level, making it tricky to maintain stable connection, especially when signals traverse over short time intervals (millisecond periods) with changes as significant as 40dB.

Comtech’s next generation Troposcatter FoS addresses the complexities of OLOS environments by combining multipath signals and mitigating short-term fading using diversity combining receivers. This unique configuration, known as the diversity system, allows Comtech to combine two or more independent signals received from various transmission paths. By doing so they increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), resulting in a more reliable and stable SNR. This means a reduced likelihood of the combined signals’ quality falling below the minimum threshold needed for proper reception. The System also compensates for the time delays that signals experience while taking different independent paths between transmitting and receiving stations.

As the leading provider of Troposcatter systems, Comtech’s next generation Troposcatter FoS allow military operators and other end users to deliver vital information hundreds of miles over the horizon, or beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS), by bouncing microwave radio signals off the upper layers of the troposphere. Today, Comtech’s next generation Troposcatter FoS are delivering performance enhancements that represent a one-thousand-fold increase over former generations of Troposcatter systems.

Comtech’s portfolio of defense and security technologies, including the company’s Troposcatter FoS, are uniquely positioned to deliver capabilities that will enhance Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) operations. The company has extensive experience developing and deploying customized, interoperable, robust, and resilient communications systems for all branches of the DOD and coalition forces. Comtech’s expansive portfolio of defense and security technologies is designed to continuously evolve over time to meet emerging Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) use cases and enhance mission effectiveness in future all domain command and control operations.

This article is the fourth in a series that will focus on important Troposcatter use cases including: Relay Link Replacement, Troposcatter Communications on the Move, Obstructed Line of Sight Communications, Operations in Contested/Congested Satellite Environments, and Extension of Services.

Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS meets the CJADC2 communication needs. Contact a Comtech representative at contact us, to discuss how Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your organization

 Learn more about the Troposcatter Family of Systems below.

1. Introduction

2. Relay Link Replacement

3. Communications on the Move

4. Obstructed Line of Sight

5. Operations in Contested / Congested Environments

Comtech’s Troposcatter Family of Systems (FoS) has proven to be a robust and flexible platform to effectively deliver Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) high capacity, backhaul, communications in a wide range of environments. The Troposcatter FoS consists of multiple terminals that range in size from large scale transit case based transportable systems to small form-factor systems that can be easily flown anywhere in the world in airline checkable cases. Larger terminals in the Tropscatter FoS are currently deployed in widespread geographic locations to provide 50 to 100 Mbps of throughput at BLOS distances in excess of 100 plus nautical miles. For shorter distance requirements, the smallest terminal in the Troposcatter FoS can be paired with Active Electronically Steered Array (AESA) antennas.

In a recent demonstration, Comtech and Spectra Group proved that our Troposcatter Family of Systems (FoS) can provide effective Communications-On-the-Move (COTM) capabilities at ranges and throughput values typically associated with fixed emplacement communications systems. This demonstration illustrated that Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS can now be paired with advanced antenna systems that provide automatic pointing and tracking capabilities that enable fixed-to-mobile platform and mobile-to-mobile platform communications.

AESA antennas utilize beamforming and software-based electronic steering to give our systems the ability to find and track each other whether the systems are stationary or moving. Pairing the smaller terminals with AESA antennas significantly reduces the moving parts of the system, lowers power consumption compared to mechanical tracking systems, and eliminates the need for human intervention for antenna pointing and link acquisition. The small size and weight of the terminal and AESA combination allows the system to be easily integrated into land vehicles and installed in cramped quarters aboard sea-faring vessels; all while providing multi-MBPS throughput out to distances of 70 miles or more. Comtech has showed that this type of system could provide 87 Mbps of throughput at 40 miles in Sea State 4 conditions. Through multiple successful Troposcatter FoS capabilities demonstrations, Comtech and Spectra Group have been able to show the value of On-the-Move, Over-the-Horizon communications for commercial and government customers operations across a wide range of land and maritime environments to illustrate the benefits of bringing high-capacity communications to the tactical edge. Regardless of ground obstructions or sea states, the Comtech Troposcatter COTM member of the FoS can be counted on to extend critical voice, video, and data services to forward mobile elements with throughput values typically associated with fixed terminals.

Comtech’s portfolio of defense and security technologies, including the company’s Troposcatter FoS, are uniquely positioned to deliver capabilities that will enhance Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) operations. The company has extensive experience developing and deploying customized, interoperable, robust, and resilient communications systems for all branches of the DOD and coalition forces. Comtech’s expansive portfolio of defense and security technologies is designed to continuously evolve over time to meet emerging Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) use cases and enhance mission effectiveness in future all domain command and control operations.

This article is the third in a series that will focus on important Troposcatter use cases including: Relay Link Replacement, Troposcatter Communications on the Move, Obstructed Line of Sight Communications, Operations in Contested/Congested Satellite Environments, and Extension of Services.

Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS meets the CJADC2 communication needs. Contact a Comtech representative at contact us, to discuss how Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your organization

 Learn more about the Troposcatter Family of Systems below

1. Introduction

2. Relay Link Replacement

3. Communications on the Move

4. Obstructed Line of Sight

5. Operations in Contested/Congested Satellite Environments

Radio frequency relay link systems were invented in the late 1800s, and later adopted by militaries during World War II (WWII) to strategically communicate mission plans through audio messages. While the technology dates to WWII, military branches continue to rely on multiple LOS systems to relay critical information during missions. Today, relay links are limited in their ability to reliably deliver critical information when it’s needed most—whether it’s on a battlefield or during a natural disaster.

Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS can deliver reliable communications regardless of terrain geographic obstacles. Comtech’s smallest form factor Troposcatter solution, is optimized for enhanced, assured, lower power, all domain communications up to 60 kilometers.

Comtech’s portfolio of defense and security technologies, including the company’s Troposcatter FoS, are uniquely positioned to deliver capabilities that will enhance Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) operations. The company has extensive experience developing and deploying customized, interoperable, robust, and resilient communications systems for all branches of the DOD and coalition forces. Comtech’s expansive portfolio of defense and security technologies is designed to continuously evolve over time to meet emerging Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) use cases and enhance mission effectiveness in future all domain command and control operations.

This article is the Second in a series that will focus on important Troposcatter use cases including: Relay Link Replacement, Troposcatter Communications on the Move, Obstructed Line of Sight Communications, Operations in Contested/Congested Satellite Environments, and Extension of Services.

Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS meets the CJADC2 communication needs. Contact a Comtech representative at contact us, to discuss how Comtech’s Troposcatter FoS can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your organization

 Learn more about the Troposcatter Family of Systems below.

1. Introduction

2. Relay Link Replacement

3. Communications on the Move

4. Obstructed Line of Sight

5. Operations in Contested / Congested Environments