Viasat Completes Network Control Station Installations for Spanish MoD

Today’s geopolitical environment and rapidly evolving threats are causing allied nations to determine ways to maintain the sovereignty of their data and eliminate their reliance on information sharing by other countries. One route that many are choosing to follow is the creation of in-country Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) satellites and sovereign UHF Network Control Stations (NCSs) that enable more efficient voice and data transmission.
 

Most recently, Viasat worked with the Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD) to install two redundant NCSs to support two satellites, SpainSat NG I and SpainSat NG II. One ground station controls the UHF Time Domain Multiple Access (TDMA) networks – while the other ground station serves as a back-up. Viasat delivered the Spanish MoD NCS installations ahead of SpainSat NG I’s anticipated entry into commercial service.
 

UHF radio pervasiveness drives increased demand
 

Why are our allies turning back to UHF now? UHF has progressed technically, from an inefficient, single-channel setup known as Single Channel Per Carrier to an equally inefficient Demand-Assigned Multiple-Access (DAMA) system, which split the channel into five pieces to allow up to five users on a single channel. Viasat maximizes efficiency with its Integrated Waveform Channel Controller (IWCC), which expands the setup to 10-14 users for every UHF channel.
 

While it initially looked like UHF could lose its prominence in the early 2000s given the shifting interest towards higher frequency bands like Ka and Ku for faster data rates, the pervasiveness and reliability of the technology have created trust that has remained. Almost every military in the world has UHF radios in use on ground or aero platforms. Additionally, there are more than 500,000 UHF satellite communications (SATCOM) capable radios currently in the field.
 

“This demand will keep growing, certainly for the next 20 or 30 years,” says Tony Karkainen, Director of Narrowband Solutions, Viasat Government. “UHF is still very viable. I would even say that we have never had more requirements for UHF, because our off-the-shelf, integrated UHF waveform is flexible to the needs of customers – from simple single station/single channel products to multiple ground stations in multiple locations with multiple antennas and many, many channels.”
 

Behind the build-out: Partnerships deliver successful results
 

The NCSs for the Spanish MoD were built by Viasat team members in our Carlsbad, Calif. lab, utilizing antennas built by our close partner, Blacktree Technology. Once assembled, we underwent a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) to demonstrate the system’s operation for the customer and our project partners, Telefónica S.A., who served as the overall Program Prime under the Spanish MoD, and AICOX SOLUCIONES, S.A.U. who served as Viasat’s prime contractor/in-country representative for the Spanish MoD and provider of civil works and antennas.
 

“After the FAT, we disassembled and packaged the system for shipment to Spain,” says Matthew Kaletta, Systems Design Engineer, Viasat, and a lead team member for the project. “We went out there to install the system into their ground station. We were there for four weeks, building it out and testing it. Then, we successfully completed an onsite system acceptance test.”
 

After doing the same for the second NCS site, the team combined both sites and conducted another successful, full-system acceptance test.
 

Viasat solutions enable data control and secure network management
 

To achieve Spain’s priority objective of a UHF SATCOM capability for the country’s armed forces using the new SPAINSAT-NG satellites, the NCS included the following Viasat solutions:

• Visual Integrated SATCOM Information, Operation and Networking (VISION) planning and network management software is an integrated, user-friendly single network management interface for legacy UHF DAMA and IW services. The integrated controller dramatically accelerates connectivity on the battlefield, improving from 90 seconds through a legacy UHF SATCOM system to as little as 4 seconds with IW. Additionally, operators can reconfigure UHF satellite networks on the fly to meet new mission priorities in real time. 
  
  The interface simultaneously manages all 25-kHz legacy DAMA and IW networks and services, enabling multiple data and voice users to operate at the same time. VISION is part of Viasat’s Network Management Solution, which allows users to maximize channel efficiency and remotely control sites from a single terminal – streamlining logistics and reducing labor needed to run the network.

• Integrated Waveform Channel Controller (IWCC) enables multi-user group communications with the addition of MIL-STD TDMA protocols to traditional 5- and 25-kHz UHF satellite channels and expands capacity to 10–14 data and voice users for every UHF channel.
   

Ultimately, Viasat was able to deliver two fully integrated, operational, and manageable IW-capable NCS installations to support the Spanish MoD, which will allow the optimization of UHF capabilities by increasing the number of users able to access satellite resources.
 

An off-the-shelf, customizable NCS for allies

As other NATO allies evaluate opportunities to maintain sovereign control of their voice and data and invest in proven IW NCS solutions, Viasat has a turn-key, fully-integrated NCS that can be customized to the specific needs of our customers – whether they require a simple, single-station, single channel solution or multiple ground stations in multiple locations with multiple antennas and dozens of channels.

 

“We do not believe in ‘one size fits all’ or otherwise cookie-cutter responses to our customers’ problems,” Karkainen says. “Instead, we meet with them to assess their requirements and priorities, and then we give them what they need.”

 

To learn more about Viasat’s network management and IW capabilities, please contact us.