An operations room/headquarters set up during the L3Harris-led Everest experiment in 2023. (L3Harris Technologies)
L3Harris is pressing ahead with maturing resilient Link 16 connectivity across domains, with company officials already leveraging lessons learned from the Pentagon's low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network programme.
Company officials in August participated in a series of US Navy-led demonstrations, showcasing cross-domain Link 16 connectivity. During one scenario, programme officials were able to establish connectivity between a proliferated LEO asset to a tactical radio platform aboard a navy ship while on the move, Samir Mehta, president of communications systems at L3Harris, said.
Programme officials also carried out demonstrations of land-based Link 16 radio network connectivity between a L3Harris tactical radio and Amazon's new commercial, satellite-based broadband network, dubbed Project Kuiper.
The secure connection was facilitated via anti-jam Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW), Mehta said during a 14 October interview at the Association of the United States Army annual symposium in Washington, DC.
PTW is a critical element of US Space Force's Protected Tactical Enterprise Service (PTES) ground system, designed to develop a new global ground-based tactical communications enterprise designed to survive the latest in electronic warfare and satellite jamming threats.
Company officials have also begun gleaning lessons learned from initial launches of the Pentagon's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) LEO satellite communications (satcom) network.
L3Harris is in close collaboration with PWSA prime contractors, supporting the Link 16 connectivity capability, according to Mehta. A majority of the preliminary feedback on Link 16 connectivity from the Tranche 0 launches has predominantly focused on system hardening and ruggedisation of the datalink and payload hardware aboard the space vehicle (SV), he explained.
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