Radio families on the tactical scene: the decades-long trend toward building complete families of tactical radio sets has created a veritable warehouse of choices from which any country's army can build its communication needs.

Radio families on the tactical scene: the decades-long trend toward building complete families of tactical radio sets has created a veritable warehouse of choices from which any country's army can build its communication needs. But, as always, too many possibilities can create confusion, and even perpetrate a bottleneck in the decision process' red tape depArtment. Moreover, software programmability tends to sparkle whilst the choosing is underway -- but is there a price for such a feature? (Communications)

Keeping in touch while on the go is arguably the most important requirement of any military mission. Without supplies (beans, bullets and blankets) most soldiers can improvise -- especially in emergency situations. But when the lines of communication are down that same soldier can be caught with no idea of whether the battle is ahead or behind, 30 metres or 30 kilometres, or whether or not the fighting might already be over.

Although a somewhat exaggerated example, the aforementioned illustrates the general ideal behind the need for providing troops with a means of communication to link to other elements of their forward unit, command centres and, if required, to a main base camp.

Passing the Message

To provide a forward-operating unit with a transmitting/receiving brick of some sorts and sending them on their way may seem a bit far-fetched today, but it wasn't unheard of in the not-so-distant past. Deciding on which frequencies to scan, to find some signal from that unit and then which crypto card to use (and to do it whilst the mobile unit is `live') has created logistical problems that our fathers can laugh about today, albeit with some hesitation.

Today's new-generation battlefield radio has a heavy load to bear, what with multi-channel voice, [relatively] high bitstream data and video to transmit, networks to log on to, GPS signals to pass along, web-based e-mail to serve and crypto to scramble -- and then perform all of this in real-time. But these problems have all been overcome. Today it is the problem of interoperability between radio sets that awards commanders with sleepless nights.

Enter the Family

The solution has been found by designing a `family' of radios. Technology has driven the market (or vice versa) to require major radio manufacturers to develop related radio sets in which the base station, vehicular, manpack and hand-held versions are interoperable, affordable, scalable and, in many cases, interchangeable.

A prime example comes from Thales Communications, with its PR4G family of radios, which is currently in version 2 (V3 is due by the end of 2001). The PR4G covers a 30 to 88 MHz bandwidth, has an integrated crypto facility, performs 300 frequency hops per second and draws a meagre two-Watt workload for the hand-held set and between five and ten Watts for the manpack. The PR4G family, on order since the 1990s, is in use in a dozen countries and has created a firm foothold in the tactical radio market.

The French defence procurement agency has recently awarded Thales a contract to develop new tactical radio functionalities, presumably based on the PR4G as the French have, in the same breath, requested thousands of additional PR4G radio sets for the Army, which already has over 20 000 sets in service. The new functions mentioned in the development contract include certain enhanced IP services and voice/data multiplexing capabilities -- all this to be accessible at higher-than-today's data rates, even in heavily jammed environments.

This development will slip the PR4G (and many others) into the `older generation' status, as it is planned that the new radios will incorporate new hardware and software adapted to accommodate the future Software Defined Radio (SDR) standards. Although many radio manufacturers were quick to jump onto the software radio bandwagon, Thales Communications (Thomson-CSF Communications) was very cautious, illustrated by recent comments shared by a Thales representative at the Paris Air Show 2001: "Software radios are an empty shell without a standard. The user must buy the wave-forms from the company selling the hardware -- or you have nothing".

In a Perfect World

Building a Software Defined Radio is not something to be taken lightly, as evidenced by the previously referred to Thales statement, and: "When a standard exists, users can buy any hardware and install any waveform. Until then, it's proprietary and confusing". Which is all too true. The waveforms are still proprietary and, as yet, no firm standard exists.

The Joint Tactical Radio System programme, designed to provide just such a standard, is the US Department of Defense's effort to acquire a family of affordable, high capacity tactical radios that offer today's war fighter end-to-end communications capabilities. Currently BAE Systems and Raytheon, inter alia, are working toward a solution for JTRS.

Thales' PR4G, as mentioned above, remains at the top of the line in the radio family department, but its single-band design could prevent it from taking that quantum leap (in its current state) with the rest of the pack. Unfortunately, the latest developments concerning the PR4G were not available from the company.

In stark contrast, the Falcon II family of radios from Harris is not only one of the most successful and sought after systems available today, but in July was selected by Computing Devices Canada as a major component in its award of the $ 2.4 billion British Bowman programme -- no small feat for any radio manufacturer. The British Ministry of Defence describes the Bowman programme as one of the most important land-based military projects in British history. As far as defence programmes go, the Bowman has had a history of ups and downs unrivalled in any defence sector from any country (with the possible exception of the Crusader) in recent years. For the Bowman programme, Harris will provide around 10 000 HF radio systems.

Also for the Bowman programme, Rockwell Collins is to supply more than 37 000 third-generation handheld Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR)-III and Miniature PLGR Engine (MPE-S) equipment sets for embedding into and integration with radio and communication systems to be installed in more than 20 000 vehicles, ships and aircraft, as well as over 60 000 for field use.

Eads is also slated to participate in the Bowman programme with plans to develop solutions for Nato interoperability issues and vehicle integration in Germany. With all this recent activity, the Bowman programme could well be renamed Phoenix.

One outstanding feature of each Falcon II radio is that they sport the same Man-Machine Interface (MMI), which simplifies operator training, breeds familiarity with all unit types (portable, manpack, vehicle) and provides an overall increase in operator proficiency. This is the basis of any successful radio family, the underlying theory being: when a soldier is trained in a hand-held or manpack from a family and then faced with a member of the same family in a vehicular or base-station model, he will be as at home and proficient as with his normally-used model - and despite the set's frequency range (HF, VHF, UHF etc), operation is just as familiar.

The Falcon II family was built around a common, menu-driven platform and features removable keypads with graphical displays. Harris' Falcon II is a software-defined platform, which allows features and upgrades to be quickly programmed through the radio's data port without the need to open the unit. A `jerk-and-run' unit, such as Harris' RF5800H-MP, is also a popular feature of any radio family and was designed to give the soldier the opportunity to grab a vehicular radio from its mounts, slap on a new battery and use the unit in a manpack form. The RF-5800H and RF-5800V were recently delivered to the Macedonian Army.

Harris' most notable product is the AN/PRC-117F multiband/multimission manpack (of the RF-5800M-MP family), which covers the entire 30 to 512 MHz frequency range and offers embedded Comsec, Satcom and ECCM capabilities together in one unit. An embedded Dama and Satcom modem is software reconfigurable and the radio connects to an external GPS. A first tranche of AN/PRC-117Fs was shipped to the US Air Force's Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) squadrons in June 2001 for use in requesting air support using the radio's Satcom links and to direct aircraft in VHF and UHF modes.

Another author of the jerk-and-run system is Datron, with its Spectre V family containing two core products built around a common hardware platform. The Spectre V, the basic unit for both tactical VHF/HF and multi-band families, covers the 30 to 88 MHz frequency range and can be configured for a variety of functions, such as stacking two radios and amplifiers in vehicles or shelters to facilitate co-site simultaneous transmission and reception without system degradation. When used in conjunction with an appropriate data terminal the unit transmits data (text/image) and voice in both clear and encrypted modes in either single band, full or partial frequency hopping operation.

The Spectre V is a handful of radio -- but only one handful, as its ease of operation and simple, non-cluttered interface take soldier-proof to a new level. The unit features 100 memory channels that offer pre-programming of operating mode, power level or bandwidth and, due to its SDR nature, requires no hardware alignment. Spectre V is completely interoperable with its handheld counterpart, the PRC1080 Squad Radio.

Datron was (as of this writing) in the process of delivering over 200 Spectre V combinations (manpack, mobile and retransmission site versions) to an undisclosed customer. Currently under the company's hammer and screwdriver is the Spectre H -- the 1.5 to 30 MHz version of the same model that should appear in early 2002. In addition to the 'H' having embedded ECCM, Comsec and GPS it will feature MIL-STD-141 Ale (Automatic Link Establishment) and a MIL-STD-110A/B high-speed data modem, which offers transparent connectivity to wireless Lans (Local Area Networks).

Aselsan is also heavily involved in the radio family production scheme, beginning with its 9600 VHF/FM frequency hopping tactical radio family. The 9600, available in manpack, single or dual vehicular, fixed station and dual navy configurations, operates over 3120 channels (spaced at 25 kHz) in fixed or frequency hopping encrypted voice/ data, auto voice/data retransmission, hailing, operation code transmission, channel scanning and break-in modes, with B.I.T.E., software download and wide-band analogue data (X-mode) but a sampling of the auxiliary modes.

The VRC-4600 series vehicular radio set, also from Aselsan, is a unique family of modular VHF/FM equipment consisting of a number of basic units that can be combined into various configurations ranging from a simple manpack set-up to a complex, high-power vehicular design. The VRC-4600 series offers full electronic tuning, a 40 km transmission range, a separation mode for data transmissions and, under F3 modulation, covers the 30 to 76 MHz range. The heart of the VCR-4600 family is the basic transmitter/receiver unit, the -4600 -- which forms the foundation upon which all configurations are built.

Aselsan's VCR-4600 series even features a specific set designed for main battle tank configurations.

Sssssshhhhh!

Many of the newer radio families have been designed for software reprogrammability, but both connecting to wireless Lans and downloading new radio waveforms through soft (wireless) connections pose new security problems heretofore not encountered (see "The New Age of Radio" herewith). And interoperability with other armies creates yet another rat's nest of logistics. To this end Thales Communications is to provide its Cryptel IP data encryption system as the Nato standard IP cryptographic equipment for data communications. Nato's C3 Agency has decided that Nato and its member countries will begin using the Cryptel IP sometime this year to protect data, video conferencing and voice over IP communications.

The embedding of a cryptographic solution into proprietary radio families has long been practiced by many manufacturers. Rohde & Schwarz provides embedded crypto in its VK 3088 VHF transceiver, which also boasts a built-in voice scrambler that provides digital voice encryption via 32-bit code sampling, scrambling and transmission via the radio channel. Over 10 000 possible code combinations are entered by a fill gun. The XV 3088 also features the instantaneous erasure of pre-programmed data in case one's position is compromised.

Rohde & Schwarz also delivers the M3TR, which is a most versatile piece of kit (M3 denoting Multiband, Multimode and Multirole, TR -- Tactical Radio). The M3TR is flexibility itself, with only two units of the family needed to cover the whole spectrum from shortwave through to the UHF band. The M3TR also shines in the data rate transmission arena, with up to 64 kbit/sec in the VHF/UHF band (5.4 kbit/sec in shortwave). The units also permit interfaces to fixed networks, such as ISDN, Wan, Lan and ATM, and feature intelligent gateway and relay functions. Quite a cast of countries have opted for the M3TR 3000 series solution, including Brazil, Belgium and Germany, to name but a few.

The `Multirole' in the M3TR provides the system with the capability to be operated as either a radio access point, a terrestrial trunked radio, as a range extension node, in its asynchronous transfer mode or simply as a combat net radio. The unit boasts Have Quick I and II, Saturn and Secos for ground-to-air communications, as well at the EPM standard method for Secom. Keys required for the EPM method can be distributed by means of a Key Distribution Device (KDD) or via over-the-air rekeying. Rohde & Schwarz also offers its proprietary software modules for key, frequency and network management.

The practice of embedding security in radio families, much like the ubiquitous Tadiran Communications' CNR 9000, is a must today. Getting the message across the battlefield, and even to the brass gathering at the flag back at base is essential. Then keeping the other side from intercepting and decoding that same message is equally as important. But without effective communications equipment to provide one's allies with the capability to understand the message -- and for everyone to have the ability to keep each other in the big picture -- the battle has already been lost.

RELATED ARTICLE: In short.

* "Radio families have taken over the crown in today's battlefield communications"

* "The role of a tactical radio has evolved from simply transmitting voice and Morse code to sending data, images, video and e-mail"

* "Software defined radios would seem to be the perfect solution for tactical communications."

RELATED ARTICLE: The new age of radio.

Taking centre stage in battlefield communications today is the Software Defined Radio (SDR), and its presence is causing quite a stir between proponents of the technology and those who think it is a futuristic vision that is already behind the times. SDR, as adopted by the Software Defined Radio Forum, is a term used to describe radios that "provide software control of a variety of modulation techniques, wide-band or narrow-band operation, communications security functions (such as hopping), and waveform requirements of current and evolving standards over a broad frequency range". SDR is an enabling technology that precludes the need for armies to fill their shopping cart during a radio purchase, one SDR radio can be reprogrammed to perform a wide variety of tasks. Therefore, that same hardware purchase will still be current years later when newer software and technologies become available. And when the new waveforms, feature sets and services arc simply downloaded into the current hardware, voila! -- a new radio. The fundamental design is such that eventually end-users will realise, and be afforded true choices with pay-as-you-go features, device independence and a single piece of scalable hardware that is immediately compatible on a global/mission-oriented scale. Such an open architecture gives application developers the ability to enhance value without concern to hardware types. This, in turn, translates to handheld, manpack, vehicular and base station units that can cover multiple frequencies and a variety of cryptographic modes, can handle video and voice on any network and do so at a moment's notice through a flash download from a PC or with a wireless pulse. The options for this type of technology are seemingly endless, but the security implications are equally as broad: today's wireless networks are luring a new breed of hackers, and with the US Pentagon website, FBI servers and other volatile communication and data storage media under attack, the downloadable waveform is obviously the next target. As the Swiss company Crypto warns, " People need to understand that wireless networks are completely insecure." The question remains as to whether 56 - or even 128-bit key security is enough to prevent future violations of this emerging technology. Or will the answer be only discovered in the heal of the battle ... when it's too late?