Viasat Inc., a global communications company, showcased its ability to enable resilient and tactical cloud-based communications during the Naval Integration in Contested Environments (NICE) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) from April 5-15, 2021, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The NICE ANTX event, led by the Naval Research & Development Enterprise (NR&DE), invited organizations from across industry, academia and government R&D to demonstrate emerging technologies that could be leveraged by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps in support of Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) and Littoral Operations in Contested Environments (LOCE).
Viasat demonstrated resilient ship-to-shore communications leveraging its Expeditionary Lightweight Integrated Tactical Edge (ELITE) kit and its roll-on/roll-off prototype G-18 Ku/Ka-band antenna to provide assured, satellite communications-on-the-move capability for maritime and ground-based platforms, allowing a commander to tailor their command and control (C2) capabilities to the mobility needs of the operation. Viasat also showed its NetAgilityâ„¢ Mobile Software Defined Networking (SDN) router, enabling greater resiliency by bonding and aggregating multiple communication pathways for automated traffic routing from the Tactical Operations Center to Small Form Factor sensor integration. Finally, Viasat showcased the C2 gateway capabilities of the ELITE kit by simulating Link 16 tracks and disseminating them across all nodes in the network and to all dismounted warfighters via multiple Direct Line of Sight (DLOS) radio links.
During the exercise, Viasat proved methods to increase network capacity and resilience at the tactical edge, improving Situational Awareness (SA) and enabling advanced battlespace applications. Viasat demonstrated its ability to:
Enable secure ship-to-shore communications in a littoral environment;
Rapidly employ and manage agile communication nodes at all echelons, allowing access to the tactical cloud;
Enable Electronic Warfare Operations across distributed systems with Office of Naval Research ENDOR Future Naval Capability (FNC) and Viasat NetAgilityâ„¢;
Provide dismounted leaders access to information and networks critical to maintain situational awareness; and
Implement an automated Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency (PACE) plan for increased resiliency, transport bonding orchestration, and management across all network nodes
“The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps understand the importance of exploring technological innovations that can support critical operations in difficult contested environments,” said Craig Miller, president, Government Systems, Viasat. “At NICE ANTX, we demonstrated a diverse set of communication advancements—in an environment of emerging cyber and electronic warfare threats—and augmented existing military communication networks, tailored command and control capabilities at the tactical edge and provided advanced methods to deliver reliable, uninterrupted broadband connectivity through an enhanced on-the-move communications platform.”
Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. For 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact people’s lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea. To learn more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com, go to Viasat’s Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on social media at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
