Communication Alternatives for Missile Communications

Now that the ABM Treaty is defunct, an opportunity exists to consider an efficient missile defense communications architecture, which could link the missile interceptor to sensors and nodes, over-the-horizon, using MDA's high altitude airship as a relay platform. This proposal focuses on one important aspect of the whole architecture--over-the-horizon connectivity to the interceptor. In the first phase, an optimum methodology for performing tradeoff studies for alternatives to connect interceptors to ground nodes and sensors will be identified. Physical specifications and joint military utility aspects of communications schemes will be considered. Once the tradeoff methodology is identified, a couple candidate schemes will be chosen for total connectivity evaluation. Since MDA's airship offers great potential as an over-the-horizon communications link, challenges to integrating comm nodes on the airship will also be analyzed. In the final phase, comm nodes will be acquired, mounted on the airship and flown over the missile defense testbed.