DTCS "Netted Iridium" Update

Iridium Provides Mission-Critical Mobile Communications in Afghanistan

5,600 Netted Iridium Satellite Radios Active

The Distributed Tactical Communications System (DTCS), better known as “Netted Iridium,” is among Iridium’s greatest innovation stories last year. At year-end 2010, nearly 5,600 Netted Iridium satellite radios were active with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Iridium’s government services revenue increased 15 percent over the prior year — largely because of its newly introduced Netted Iridium capability.

Battlefield Tested

Following initial trials in Afghanistan in 2008, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) requested the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) begin rapid deployment of DTCS radios in the region through the Joint Urgent Operational Need (JUON) process. After taking over program management responsibilities from the Naval Weapons Support Center (NWSC), the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) began deploying the DTCS radios to CENTCOM through its Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) program management office in April 2010 – just eight months after OSD approved the JUON.

Today, DTCS radios are providing an unprecedented level of situational awareness for disadvantaged warfighters in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“DISA relies on us for mission-critical communications,” said Scott Scheimreif, vice president of government programs, Iridium. “It’s imperative for troops on the ground who have a clear objective to reach, and whose lives hang in the balance, to have access to a secure, reliable communication solution that works when and where they need it. Netted Iridium provides just that.”

Netted Innovation

DTCS uses Iridium’s constellation of 66 low-Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites to provide push-to-talk (PTT) netted communication for dismounted warfighters on the move. The cross-linked Iridium satellites provide near real-time over-the-horizon voice and data links in places such as the mountains of Afghanistan where geostationary (GEO) satellites or line-of-sight (LOS) communication systems cannot be used reliably.

The program originated in 2006 under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to meet requirements for better and more reliable squad and platoon level communications for troops operating in Afghanistan’s mountainous environment. Troops venturing deep into isolated valleys or into the countryside, for instance, were often unable to communicate over GEO satellites or use standard LOS radios due to terrain blockage. The DoD believed that Iridium’s LEO satellites could provide a solution. Under the agreement, Iridium and its satellite management contractor, Boeing, uploaded new software to the satellites to enable the multicast architecture support for the one-to-many netted communications. The NWSC Asymmetric Systems Department in Dahlgren, Va., which functions as a research and development lab for the warfighting community led the effort. The Asymmetric Systems Department runs a Harsh Environment Lab that produced the first prototype handsets. The handsets were commercial-off-the-shelf Iridium handheld satellite transceivers modified to permit one-to-many PTT communications to multiple users over narrowband Iridium channels. NSWC conducted demonstration trials and field tests in 2008, and the DoD deployed limited quantities of the radio sets into Afghanistan during 2009.

DTCS Phase 2 is currently being deployed and provides expanded net footprints out to 250 miles and increases the number of available nets to 16,000. Iridium is also working on additional architecture enhancements that will improve scalability, decrease latency and allow for global nets.

“Put simply, we expect you’ll soon be able to establish a single ‘net’ based on a geographical requirement like a country,” said Scheimreif. “In parallel, we are working closely with our government and industry partners to develop and roll out a command-and-control (C2) handset, which will provide the dismounted warfighter a common tactical picture at the handheld level, allowing for netted text, chat and other situational awareness while continuing to integrate the data into other strategic C2 programs of record.”

With a successful program in place, the future holds many opportunities for Netted Iridium, including the creation of new commercial services and government expansion. In fact, just this month, the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren has awarded Iridium a development contract to further invest in Phase 3 of the DTCS program. With this investment, valued at $13.4 million, Iridium will make further enhancements to the overall DTCS infrastructure, including the implementation of a new Global Reach architecture. Working closely with the DoD on development of new innovative technologies, this investment enables Iridium to develop prototype next-generation user equipment.

DTCS radio

Manufactured by ITT Corporation

• weight: approx. one pound
• simplified operator interface: volume knob, channel knob and PTT button
• requires standard CR123 lithium batteries – readily available, minimizes combat load and impact on logistics
• shared range of frequencies can be organized into separate nets for:
  1. command and control
  2. medevac
  3. fire support
  4. other operational requirements
• users in each net assigned a channel number and radios scans for traffic on accessible nets
• caller selects channel and engages PTT button
• satellite network automatically assigns channel and alerts all other users on the net
• handsets contain embedded GPS:
  1. provides position tag for all users on the net
  2. radios provide force tracking at the hand-held levels, pushing these tracks into other C2 programs of record such as the Force Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) and Global Command Control System (GCCS)