The opportunity to speak, albeit briefly, with the Director of Engineering for iDirect Government Technologies, Mr. Karl Fuchs, was most informative. Here is the gist of the conversation...
MSM
SATCOM is becoming widely-deployed by government and military organizations. Where do we stand today with military adoption?
Karl Fuchs
Two-way satellite IP networks have become the standard communications infrastructure relied on daily by military organizations. We’ve reached a point where SATCOM has become ubiquitous for all forms of military communications. Currently, the military uses SATCOM to support a wide range of critical applications including logistics, morale and welfare, command and control, and even UAV video transmissions.
MSM
What are some of the current trends you have noted in military SATCOM?
Karl Fuchs
One of the biggest trends in military communications currently is developing high portability, low profile applications for high-speed satellite connectivity. It used to be that one device was responsible for connecting up to 100 soldiers. Now the trend is personalizing these services and bringing broadband capabilities closer to each individual soldier. Other new trends include telemedicine applications, Comms on the Move technology for military aircraft, and fully ruggedized mobile hubs.
MSM
How is SATCOM being brought to individual soldiers?
Karl Fuchs
The technology is progressing toward field units capable of fitting in a soldier’s rucksack. These units would use a very light bidirectional antenna for voice, video and data connectivity during battlefield operations. For example, soldiers would have the ability to receive battlefield imagery that identifies potential threats, transmit video of a situation back to base, or receive command and control information. Using a deployable field network, medics on the battlefield can even transmit x-rays and imagery of a wounded soldier back to doctors who can interpret the injury and advise proper treatment.
MSM
How has the satellite technology used in field deployable networks become more durable?
Karl Fuchs
Dedicated comms vehicles using mobile hubs is nothing new. However, some of the older equipment was prone to a decreased life span as a result of rust, excessive jostling, and extreme conditions. Today, new ruggedized hubs are being built to last much longer with corrosion-proof stainless steel casing and components with increased temperature tolerance to withstand harsh environments. A fully ruggedized mobile hub can be transported to support SATCOM anywhere in the world at a moments notice. This allows the military to be more autonomous and avoid relying on fixed hubs operating from distant areas.
MSM
How is current SATCOM technology able to support all of these simultaneous applications while meeting military-level security requirements?
Karl Fuchs
On a military network, quality of service rules must be designed to ensure that mission critical voice, video and data is delivered with high fidelity and that only the lowest priority data is subject to degradation. Technology breakthroughs are enabling engineers to reconcile data security requirements with quality of service priorities for military networks.
This is so that the high-priority traffic designation, required for mission critical communications, can be recognized by advanced encryption devices.
Karl G. Fuchs is Director of Engineering for iDirect Government Technologies (iGT). Fuchs leads iGT’s team of federal systems engineers and serves as chief architect for new product integration as well as the chief technical resource. Fuchs has more than 15 years of experience and accomplishments in the areas of technology and the federal government. Prior to joining iGT, Fuchs was Director of Systems Engineering at Nortel Networks serving the Verizon account team where he lead a team of Systems Engineers designing IP, Frame Relay, ATM and DWDM networks. Before joining Nortel Mr. Fuchs designed IP and ATM networks for Sprint and the Federal Government. To email Karl, select his photo.
