ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION TO MANPACK UHF SATELLITE TERMINALS

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A STUDY TO DETERMINE SPECIFICATIONS FOR AN ADVANCED UHF MANPACK SATCOM TERMINAL THAT OFFERS SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN PHYSICAL SIZE, WEIGHT, AND BATTERY LIFE OVER CURRENT GENERATION MANPACKS. THE SPECIFIED MANPACK TERMINALS WILL ALSO PROVIDE IMPORTANT INCREASES IN FUCTIONALITY OVER EXISTING MANPACKS, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF NETWORK CONTROL AND INTEROPERABILITY. MAJOR CONSIDERATIONS DURING THE STUDY INCLUDE MISSION MODELING, POWER REQUIREMENTS, COMSEC INTEROPERABILITY, AND CONTROL. THE PROPOSED WORK BEGINS WITH AN ANALYSIS THAT DETERMINES FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF MANPACK RADIOS, AND ASSOCIATED PERIPHERALS, THAT OFFER THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SIZE, WEIGHT, AND POWER SAVINGS DUE TO APPLICATION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND/OR FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION. WE ALSO WILL PERFORM TERMINAL ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN WORK LEADING TO A TAILORED B1-TYPE SPECIFICATION FOR A NEXT GENERATION MANPACK. THE B1 SPECIFICATION WILL BE SUITABLE TO PROCURE A WORKING PROTOTYPE ADVANCED MANPACK TERMINAL IN A SUBSEQUENT FIRM FIXED PRICE PHASE II SBIR CONTRACT. THE MAJOR DELIVERABLE UNDER THE PROPOSED CONTRACT IS A FINAL REPORT COMPILING THE FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS, ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, AND SPECIFICATION RESULTS AND TRADE STUDIES.