Tactical Communication Challenges in the Era of Great Power Competition

As the modern electromagnetic battlespace rapidly evolves, the stakes for robust and resilient tactical communications networks across mission-critical defense applications has never been higher. As near-peer adversaries continue to develop and deploy advanced electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, traditional radio systems have struggled to adapt to these new and unique operational challenges.

The Rising Need for Secure & EW Resilient Tactical Communications

In the future fight, the warfighter’s ability to operate in congested and contested radio frequency (RF) spectrum environments and persist in the presence of adversarial interference and jamming has emerged as a critical need. In addition, the U.S. Department of Defense Joint All-Domain Command & Control (JADC2) strategy envisions empowering Joint Force Commanders with the capabilities needed to connect sensors to shooters across all warfighting domains, and throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, regardless of where the future battlespace may be.

Silvus Technologies’ Spectrum Dominance was purpose-built to meet these challenges, delivering next-generation Low Probability of Intercept/Low Probability of Detection (LPI/LPD) and Anti-Jamming (AJ) capabilities to the warfighter, enabling them to achieve decision dominance and communications superiority on the battlefield.

Silvus’ MIMO-enabled MANET technology value proposition is simple: higher throughput, longer ranges, scalability, and reliable, repeatable performance. With Spectrum Dominance, we’re guaranteeing that same level of performance in a contested EW environment.

Spectrum Dominance is an expansive suite of LPI/LPD and AJ capabilities that provide secure and EW-resilient mesh network communications at the tactical edge. Silvus’ Spectrum Dominance enables StreamCaster MANET radios (AN/PRC-169) and MN-MIMO waveform to thrive in congested and contested environments, empowering operators to achieve mission objectives even in the presence of multi-tiered electronic attacks.

Layered Approach to LPI/LPD & Anti-Jam Defense 

Spectrum Dominance takes a layered approach to LPI/LPD concealment and AJ defense, forcing an adversary to penetrate all layers to disrupt communications. The first layers are dedicated to LPI and LPD covertness – concealing or reducing the radio’s signal signature. If an adversary can’t detect it, they can’t take action against you. 

An LPD feature, MANET Power Control (MAN-PC) minimizes the RF footprint of StreamCaster MANET radios – dynamically throttling power to the minimum amount necessary to maintain network connectivity. In addition, when features such as MANET Protected Waveform (MAN-PW) are enabled, the MN-MIMO waveform is hardened for increased resiliency against electronic attacks.

With Spectrum Dominance, every radio in the Silvus MN-MIMO mesh network performs real-time spectrum analysis and interference monitoring. Upon the detection of interference, Spectrum Dominance employs Anti-Jam resiliency techniques to mitigate electronic attack.

 

As an example, MANET Interference Cancellation (MAN-IC) utilizes multiple antennas to employ sophisticated spatial signal processing techniques to nullify the offending interfering signal, without suppressing one’s own signal.  Additionally, MANET Interference Avoidance (MAN-IA), automatically scans and monitors the RF spectrum for interference across multiple user-defined channels. At the onset of jamming, the entire network moves to the cleanest frequency without user intervention.

Program Notables & Use Cases

The real-world use cases of Spectrum Dominance are well documented. Silvus StreamCaster MANET radios, MN-MIMO waveform, and Spectrum Dominance capabilities have been adopted across multiple U.S. Department of Defense branches, establishing Silvus as the leading tactical communications provider in support of key modernization programs. 

Recently, Silvus StreamCaster MANET radios were selected for expanded deployment in the Army’s Integrated Tactical Network (ITN), for their ability to provide secure and protected high bandwidth networking and situational awareness data connectivity. In addition, with Spectrum Dominance’s advanced interference avoidance and cancellation capabilities, Silvus StreamCaster MANET radios and MN-MIMO waveform are able to thrive in congested and contested spectrum environments.

A critical component of achieving the Army’s Unified Network modernization objectives, the ITN is designed to provide a common operating environment (COE) for joint force mission coordination at the tactical edge and is a critical enabler of JADC2.

Silvus StreamCaster MANET radios with Spectrum Dominance capabilities were also recently selected for the  U.S. Marine Corps Networking On-the-Move Mobile Communications System for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV). As the first MANET radio added to the NOTM mobile communications system, Silvus StreamCaster 4400 MANET radios enable the Marine Air-Ground Task Force to access satellite communications, connect and network dispersed vehicles, airborne assets, and dismounted units through a protected and EW resilient communications architecture.

The complete suite of Spectrum Dominance capabilities is available to U.S. Government customers via firmware updates through downloadable licenses. Several of Silvus’ non-ITAR controlled Spectrum Dominance features are commercially available to all Silvus customers.

Spectrum Dominance – Achieve Spectrum Overmatch In Any Operational Environment 

Silvus Technologies is dedicated to one mission: Solving the toughest communication problems facing the warfighter.

As the world’s leading developer of advanced MANET radio systems, powered by Silvus’ revolutionary MN-MIMO waveform, Silvus Technologies is reshaping mesh network technology for mission-critical applications – on the ground, in the air and at sea.

Serving Defense, Law Enforcement, Public Safety and Commercial customers around the world, the Silvus StreamCaster family of MANET radios provide high-fidelity video, voice and IP data communications – providing actionable intelligence at the speed of relevancy.

Revolutionary MN-MIMO Waveform Technology

At the heart of every StreamCaster MANET radio is Silvus’ proprietary MN-MIMO waveform technology – capable of linking hundreds of nodes with unmatched Range, Data Throughput, EW Resiliency and Scalability.

As a software licensable extension of the Silvus MN-MIMO waveform, Spectrum Dominance’s expansive suite of LPI/LPD and AJ resiliency capabilities provide secure and robust communications enabling operators to achieve RF Spectrum Overmatch in any Operational Environment.

Learn More

Download the Spectrum Dominance Capabilities Profile or contact us today to learn how Silvus is delivering communications superiority and decision dominance at the tactical edge.

 

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