SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) deployed by US Navy Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are capable of supporting multiple mission packages (MPs) and therefore need a reliable source of communication. Some mission packages include the Mine Countermeasure (MCM) MP, the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) MP, the Surface Warfare (SUW) MP, as well as general surveillance. To control the vehicles, the Navy is using the Multiple Vehicle Communications System (MVCS) which provides the ability to simultaneously communicate and coordinate multiple unmanned vehicles via a mesh network. However, the current network utilizes Line of Sight (LOS) S-band signals which suffer from relatively low bandwidths and are susceptible to jamming and spoofing attacks. Therefore, the Navy has an urgent need for innovative Satellite Communications (SATCOM) prototypes which provide resilient SATCOM access to Navy unmanned assets, specifically to send or receive large data sets. Many commercial of the shelf (COTS) SATCOM systems are available; however, none of these systems are suitable for use on UUV applications due to the large hydrostatic pressures experienced during submersion. In addition, most COTS SATCOM systems are band specific and are only designed to operate within one SATCOM band or constellation.
