The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has selected Gilat Satellite Networks’ SatTrooper-1000 military Manpack Satellite Communications (SATCOM) terminal to equip combat units with advanced, beyond line of sight tactical communications. I-HLS reports
The new terminal communicates data, video and telephony at broadband speeds, via a satellite link, thus overcoming distance or interference typically encounters in urban or mountainous operations.
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[ismember]The SatTrooper-1000 is currently supporting Ku-band, as provided by Israel’s Amos 2 and Amos 3 communications satellites. According to Gilat, the design can also be configured to operate in X or Ka-band, to be supported by the new Amos-4 satellite, scheduled for launch in the Summer of 2013.
In recent years SATCOM has become increasingly popular with the military, as a means to deliver clear, secure and relatively immune communications channel supporting tactical units. With land operations becoming increasingly network centric, units of all sizes are becoming dependent on timely and continuous data and video communications with different command levels and other support elements. For mounted operations such capability requires communications on the move, while for the dismounted operations, quick-deploy SATCOM on the pause and on the move become mandatory.
The man portable SatTrooper-1000 weighs 13 kilos, and can be set up in minutes by a single soldier. It features an auto pointing antenna, enables rapid establishment of link wherever the appropriate satellite is in sight. The small size phased array antenna can be set in minutes with automatic pointing, without requiring tools for assembly. The antenna, built-in modem, BUC (uplink), LNB (downlink) and battery pack are incorporated in a single enclosure built to military standard.
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