Page 25 - Australian Defence Magazine Nov 2018

ASPIRE TO COMMUNICATE
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
Timely access to data – lots of data – is an increasing priority for Defence and the adage that ‘he who holds the knowledge edge wins’ is often used to describe the journey to the 5th generation future.
BATTLEFIELD mobility is also key to military success and modern engagements are very intense and rapidly evolv- ing affairs. However, one of the problems at the present time is that troops are often delivered to the fight with information about the enemy that can be hours old. This clearly isn’t ideal when considering the connected, net- work centric battlefield of the future.
The ADF has been doing a lot of work to obviate this, with Army’s Battlefield Management System (BMS) and improved communications capabilities (JP2072/2B) just two examples now in service. However, one major tech- nical challenge remains.
A modern, mobile fighting force like the Australian Army relies heavily on battlefield mobility helicopters to move personnel and materiel rapidly around the bat- tlespace. But getting large amounts of data – such as streaming video – onboard and offboard a helicopter in real time has been problematic.
Satellite communications (Satcom) capability is an im- portant tool in the information pipeline but getting a line of sight signal to pass through revolving rotor blades has until recently hampered the speed and reliability of data flow to and from the helicopter.
Aspire 200
Honeywell has developed its Aspire 200 Satcom system, which can send and receive data at up to 650 kbps, a 50 per cent increase over that which has been available in the past, and capable of supporting email, web-browsing and full motion video streaming.
“There is a lot of information on an aircraft, so how do you get that information on and off a helicopter, and get it on and off in a more-timely fashion? Our Satcom products are aimed at enabling that capability and we have developed a complete system,” Derek Lockett, Hon- eywell’s director of sales, Asia-Pacific explained to ADM.
“It’s part of an overall strategy that Honeywell has for dealing with the challenge of data on an aircraft. Aspire 200 has some capabilities for helicopters that is unique, and it opens up exciting opportunities.”
The company has developed a technique called ‘interleav- ing’ to solve the technical problem, which essentially sends information in short, intense ‘packets’ to ‘miss’ the revolv- ing rotor blades and therefore provide a more reliable and robust connection, at faster speeds than previous systems.
The Aspire 200 system uses Inmarsat’s Swift broad- band 1-4 L-band satellite network and can be fitted to both large and small helicopters, albeit with reduced perfor- mance on the latter due to the smaller, low profile antenna.
Applications
The system is commercially available with no ITAR re- strictions and has been available in the marketplace for about 18 months. Applications include Search and
Rescue (SAR), Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), law enforcement, oil & gas industry and VIP transport – and of course, military operations.
“For the military, connectivity in the helicopter allows soldiers to understand forthcoming missions, whether there have been any changes since they have been airborne and the ability to send and receive data during Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations,” Lock- ett said. “We’ve already demonstrated that military grade encryption equipment will work on this system.”
Honeywell has been using its own funds to obtain Supplementary Type Certificates (STCs) for both fixed and rotary wing platforms and, has already certified the system for the Airbus Helicopters H125, Bell 429, Leonar- do AW139, Sikorsky S-92 and – significantly – the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
“We’ve completed around 10 aircraft types to date, which Honeywell has funded, we have another six in the pipeline at the moment, and we have plans for more,” Lock- ett added. “There are a number of operators around the world, in Canada, in the Middle East and in North America already using Aspire 200 to great effect. The feedback has been very good, and that includes military customers.”
ADM Comment:
The ADF is looking at ways to increase the situational awareness of soldiers aboard transport aircraft and he- licopters and has in the past experimented with Satcom systems on RAAF C-17A and C-130J-30 airlifters. A similar system for Army (and Navy) MRH-90 Taipans and CH-47F Chinooks has not been practical in the past, due to the technical problems mentioned in the main story. With- out trying to second-guess either the original equipment manufacturers or Defence, in our view a system such as Aspire 200 would certainly seem worth exploring further.
Aspire 200 has been certified on the Black Hawk.
www.australiandefence.com.au | November 2018 | 25
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