Photo By Joseph Bullinger | 221103-N-GB257-005 Charleston, S.C. (November 3, 2022) Naval Information Warfare...... read more read more
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CHARLESTON, S.C. — Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic wrapped up an Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) on Nov. 4 aimed at finding free space optics (FSO)-based solutions that enhance warfighter communications in a spectrum-congested/contested environment.
The ANTX — dubbed the “3-Path MONTE” (Multipurpose Optical Communications Naval Technology Exercise) — follows a Cyber ANTX conducted on base in mid-September and utilized NIWC Atlantic’s newly certified Laser Communications Experimentation (LCE) Range.
A total of four companies were selected under a Commercial Solutions Opportunity (CSO) to demonstrate their products. The four traveled to Charleston on their own dime and spent the week testing out their prototype technologies on the new range.
“What’s key here is our aggressive adoption model of using both government and commercial sector funding to search for optical communications solutions,” said Greg Hays, NIWC Atlantic’s senior scientific technology manager for Rapid Prototyping and Experimentation. “We provided things like manpower, administrative support and the use of our range to create a warfighter-like environment across ground, air and mobile scenarios, while vendors supplied everything else — even their own airplane in one case.”
FSO communications, unlike fiber optics in which light runs through a cable, work in open spaces, often through an unseen beam of infrared light traveling from transmitter to receiver.
Through the CSO, Hays said ANTXs can lead to “dual-use technologies” that benefit both the commercial and government sectors by driving affordability and helping each other keep pace with innovation.
While each technology — and the resources to demonstrate each technology — came from the private sector, NIWC Atlantic’s Naval Innovative Science and Engineering (NISE) program sponsored the ANTX, which included launching its own aerostat to help facilitate ground-to-air links during the week.
Ahead of the ANTX, NISE funded the laser equipment and certification processes that officially established the new LCE Range. Provisions for needed upgrades to the Small Autonomous Unmanned Systems Research (SAUSR) Range where the laser range resides also came from NISE.
“With the addition of this new range, NIWC Atlantic is in a strong position to support novel communication improvements for the warfighter through events like this optical communications ANTX,” said Tom Glaab, an engineer at NIWC Atlantic’s science and technology department who serves as team lead for NISE initiatives.
Department of the Navy (DON) and other Department of Defense (DOD) leaders are laser-focused on FSO technologies ever since information warfare came to play such a key role in military strategy.
DON Chief Information Officer Aaron Weis’s current Information Superiority Vision, which calls for innovation that “rapidly ingests new technologies,” is just one example of how ANTXs align with national priorities.
A key technology focus area at NIWC Atlantic is assured communications, and leaders believe FSO capabilities can enable command and control (C2) advantages in a joint, all-domain scenario.
“To really get after this and make those lightning bolts we see on every joint all-domain slide a reality, we know we need to experiment with optical communications, assess their capabilities and connect the dots to ensure our C2 functionality and fallbacks dominate any contested information environment,” said Capt. Nicole Nigro, NIWC Atlantic commanding officer. “This is where collaboration with those working in the same space outside of government becomes so vital.”
Representatives from across the Naval Research and Development Establishment (NR&DE) observed and/or provided technical assessments during the ANTX, including members of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Marine Corps Systems Command, Office of Naval Research and U.S. Special Operations Command.
In addition, the maritime platform-electro-optics branch of Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane provided laser system safety support throughout the 3-Path MONTE ANTX.
“Optical communications is a quickly emerging technology requirement needed across the services,” said Jason Pizarro, technical lead for U.S. Marine Corps Communications Systems at NIWC Atlantic’s expeditionary warfare department. “So we created an opportunity to bring in as many stakeholders as possible.”
The field environment was especially important since it provided vendors and government assessors with irregular terrain, temperature modulations and unpredictable weather for evaluating each FSO technology.
“When you shoot a light beam from point A to point B, environmental effects will play a role,” Pizarro said. “If there’s a tree in the way, you will have an issue. When the morning sun heats up the dew, you will have an issue.”
Challenges using the light spectrum, however, do not outweigh the tremendous benefits. Often, traditional forms of communications are more easily jammed or degraded, Pizarro said. FSO communications are by nature difficult to detect and even harder to intercept—a coveted communications component of any operational scenario, especially given the technology’s enormous, speed-of-light data throughputs.
Each prototype at the ANTX was evaluated for fixed, mobile and multi-point communications with active pointing, acquisition and tracking systems that can maintain links in dynamic environments. Assessors also tested each optical communication for how well it could resist an adversary’s effort to collect on it.
“This ANTX was a perfect example of military-government collaboration with industry and across the NR&DE,” said Peter C. Reddy, NIWC Atlantic executive director. “By joining forces across DOD, private sector and other government labs, we can most effectively execute critical experimentation, testing and evaluations to find optical communications solutions that lead to the best outcomes for our warfighters in current and future contested environments.”
Following all finalized assessments, vendors will receive a report on how they performed and, as appropriate, what next steps are planned.
| Date Taken: | 11.15.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2022 08:04 |
| Story ID: | 433268 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 562 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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