Specifically designed to meet maritime requirements,
Escalating conflict and extreme weather in coastal regions create increased demand for unmanned surface vessels to perform both traditionally manned missions and newly identified tasks protecting national interests.
Mission success against near-peer and asymmetric threats depends on actionable intelligence available in near-real-time. Additionally, port survey, anti-mine detection and deep-sea survey missions require increased wireless connectivity to support informed decision making.
For example, amidst mounting interference around its shoreline borders last year, the
Whether in the littoral zone or in the open sea, maritime operations require resilient communication technology to avoid transmission interception.
To this end, the L3Harris Technologies Broadband C5ISR Maritime Communications System enables unmanned surface vessel operators to make more-informed tactical decisions with data from a robust spectrum of sensors, from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; command and control; and telemetry, among others, with a resilient
RF-7800W-RP503
Applicable for both military and commercial use, the combination of the
'We designed, tested and validated this system specifically to meet the demands of current and future maritime operations,'
The solution originated out of a current customer's requirement for higher data throughput to push more imagery out to operators who were controlling unmanned boats with the RF-7850W and an omnidirectional antenna.
Enhanced Situational Awareness, Faster Control
The incorporation of the Smart Antenna to the RF-7850W solution gives operators faster control of the vessel; and FIPS-certified security software and a resilient, anti-jam waveform provide a more-secure solution, reducing the chance of adversarial intercept.
'The RF-7850W and the Smart Antenna give unmanned vessel controllers better picture of their environment,' Daminski said. 'Because of the massive data pipe, controllers can now view multiple high-definition video feeds with other sensors to get more-complete situational awareness.'
When combined further with the L3Harris Automated Surface Vessel (ASV) business's ASView Control System and the L3Harris WESCAM MX-10MS maritime electro-optical/infrared imaging system, as the company has done with strategic partner
RF-7800W-AT30X Electronically Beam-Steered Smart Antenna
'The high bandwidth and low latency of radio systems such as the L3Harris RF78x0 series offer a game-changing, order-of magnitude-increase in capability to both our commercial and defence customers,' said
Maritime Capabilities
The
Among other considerations, the engineers made a concerted effort to maintain the Smart Antenna's low center of gravity. The ruggedized hardware withstands vibrations associated with unmanned marine maneuvers - including piercing through waves - and prevents corrosion from salt fog. Further, the radio itself is covered by a frequency band generally unlicensed in most countries, facilitating more expeditious frequency authorization for the system.
The capabilities provided by the system facilitate many current and emerging maritime operational scenarios, from multi-domain anti-submarine warfare to countering surface IED threats from enemy unmanned vessels.
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