Two of General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies’ Warrior antenna terminals have been certified by the U.S. Army for use in the Ka-band frequency used to access the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) network.

The Warrior antenna will enable warfighters to transmit and receive video, multimedia imagery and data faster and more securely.

The certification for General Dynamics (News - Alert) Warrior 1.2 and 1.8 meter, Ka-band enabled terminals came after stringent performance and operational control requirements needed to operate on the WGS network were successfully met.

The WGS network comprises of six U.S. Department of Defence satellites that provide flexible communications connectivity for U.S. military forces.

The certification completed by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defence Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT), will help Warrior terminals currently in use by the U.S. Marine Corps as part of the Support Wide Area Network (SWAN) program to access the WGS network.

The SWAN program provides Marines with secure and non-secure commercial satellite communications equipment that can integrate upgrades like the Ka-band capability quickly.

Ka-Band uses higher transmit and receive operating frequencies which allow the SWAN terminals to use smaller, lighter, and highly integrated communications capabilities than those used at Ku-Band.

Benefits of Ka-band over Ku-band for satellite communications include:

Higher data-rate throughput for improved quality of video, voice and data communications

Reduced space segment cost through the use of the WGS system

Reduced communications interference issues due to dedicated WGS satellite access

The Warrior 1.2 and 1.8 meter terminals are made up of Very Small Aperture (VSAT) antenna subsystems, power amplifiers, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) modems, automatic tracking control, in addition to other similar electronic subsystems.

Marvin Shoemake, vice president of sales for General Dynamics SATCOM (News - Alert) Technologies, stated that the completion of the SMDC/ARSTRAT testing will provide a major Ka-band upgrade for the SWAN program in addition to providing other government agencies such as homeland security, to have state of the art communications using the WGS network.