A Radio-Silent Communications System

The present system of communication between KC-135/KC-10 tanker aircraft and receptacle-equipped receiver aircraft calls for communication based on aircraft lights. The Air Force requires a system for undetectable verbal communication between tanker and receiver from a range of 1500 meters to point blank. This document describes an approach for providing undetectable verbal tanker/receiver communication based on a recently developed low power noise signaling modulation technique called "transmitted reference noise signaling." A new wideband transmitted reference noise approach to signaling communications is made possible by acoustic charge transport (ACT) technology. The objective of the proposed Phase I program is to evaluate the feasibility of using an ACT-based noise signaling communication system to provide verbal communications under radio silent conditions during aerial refueling procedures.