Page 42 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2021

40 LAND FORCES C4 EDGE
JUNE 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
HF AND VHF: A QUICK ONCE OVER
HF radio is a system of communication that operates on the portion of the radio spectrum between 1.6 and 30 megahertz (MHz). This form of propagation uses single side band (SSB) transmissions – an efficient form of voice modulation – to carry signals over both short and long distances.
There are two main forms of radio wave transmission in HF radio: ground and sky waves. Ground waves travel along the Earth’s surface, enabling communication across short distances. Sky waves are bounced off the Earth’s ionosphere in order to reach transmission ranges of several thousands of kilometres.
With these types of transmission, HF radio facilitates communication to and within isolated areas. A typical setup consists of three components:
• A transceiver with a microphone, speaker and
frequency controls.
• An antenna for broadcasting and receiving
transmissions.
• An independent power source.
WHAT IS VHF RADIO?
Operating in the band between 30 and 300 MHz, VHF radios are typically smaller, lighter and more portable than their HF counterparts. This makes them particularly useful for smaller units in the field communicating with one another.
VHF waves travel across the Earth’s surface and do not reflect off the ionosphere. As such, they are limited to line-of-sight (LOS) transmissions - the antennas of the transmitting and receiving radios must be able to ‘see’ one another. Given this limitation, VHF is generally limited to ranges of approximately eight kilometres. However, there are a number of solutions available for extending VHF propagation.
per cent of a future command and control system and, with some targeted appropriate investment from govern- ment, could be in a position to deliver a fully competitive C4I system where that battlegroup and below capability could be delivered by Australian industry to meet what- ever Army’s future requirements are,” Sanderson said.
The second paper will be a discussion paper on potential acquisition strategies and how Defence could engage with industry to ensure that the ecosystem becomes stronger, more viable and more relevant.
“One of the spinoffs out of C4 EDGE is that we are build- ing technology solutions across multiple companies that will be able to be exported,” Sanderson said, a sentiment echoed by the collaboration partners across the board.
“ALL TECHNOLOGY IS
ITAR FREE AND WILL BE ABLE TO EXPORTED ONCE CLEARED
BY THE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES.”
All technology is ITAR free and will be able to be ex- ported once cleared by the relevant authorities.
“For example, there are a number of C4 EDGE outputs from other companies that are being used in EOS counter- drone packages that we’re building for export now,” Sand- erson said.
“It’s interesting, I mean if you look at what Codan has been doing with its investment strategy, what EOS is doing with its investment strategy into SpaceLink, C4 EDGE is actually facilitating a lot of additional industry investment and market consolidation, which I think is going to be ex- traordinarily beneficial to Australia going forward.”
There’s no question, Army has taken a risk here, Sand- erson reflects.
“It’s a risk that is going to pay off and that risk, that demonstration of commitment has given industry the con- fidence to invest, not just into technology but also into wider acquisition strategies. Codan is a good example with their recent acquisition of Domo Tactical Communi- cations in the US and UK..”
“An Australian company owns a world leading mesh ra- dio network company that is heavily involved in both UK and US futures development with their armies; that’s now an Australian entity.
“What EOS is doing with SpaceLink and our invest- ments into air solutions and what’s going on in a number of
ABOVE: Effective teamwork is supported by effective comms.
areas such as Etherstack, developments around Acacia and Solinnov, these are all big deal confidence builders which will deliver much better industry capability in this country. It’s all come out of a demonstration by Defence that it’s willing to lean forward and create pathways for Australian industry to get where it needs to be -globally competitive.
“C4 EDGE I think is an ideal model for how Defence should be engaging with industry to explore all sorts of technologies.”
Head of Army Capability Major General Simon Stuart agrees (see more in From the Source this month on P162 for more on this).
“What we want to do is effectively use this as a learning activity in the proof of concept,” MAJGEN Stuart said. “While replicating C4 EDGE in other programs may not work exactly, it’s the principles of the approach which is to communicate requirements to work collaboratively on the art of the possible and set ourselves collectively a set
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