The X-Factor: A SATCOM Blog

U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group Operations and High-Throughput, All-Weather X-band SATCOM

Navies around the globe know that not all radio frequency bands are created equal. As the graphic below depicts, radio signals with frequencies above 10 gigahertz (GHz) are crippled by atmospheric attenuation (i.e. “rain fade”) that degrades signal strength very quickly in hot, humid tropical environments; cold, rainy or overcast environments; sandy or dusty environments;…

Who is Your Veteran?

Nearly all of us have a veteran in our family or circle of friends – we all know someone. Through flags or poppies, flowers or photographs – how many veterans will you be honoring this week?

Winter is Coming: Weatherproofing Your SATCOM

As summer starts drawing to a close and more difficult weather begins to set in, it is a good time to consider how to mitigate the impacts of weather on our military operations. Weather can have a devastating impact on military operations – whether from rain, sleet, snow, fog, and even sand storms and dust…

Interference in Communications

Anyone old enough to read this remembers that it used to be impossible to make a cell phone call while in an elevator. One would either stand in the lobby until the call ended, or warn the person on the other end that the call would soon drop.

Increasing Decisive Advantage: the X-band UAV

UAV operators and acquisition offices take note: not all beyond-line-of-sight UAVs are made the same. A certain breed, namely X-band UAVs, are far ahead of the rest in terms of all-weather, go anywhere, anytime can-do ISR and weapons delivery capability. And they offer less radio frequency (RF) interference to surrounding operations, and can do it…

Rain and War

The time for battle is approaching. Timing is crucial; if ground is to be gained, strategy must be able to quickly change where necessary. Communication is critical. As the commander looks to the sky, he sees rain is coming – success now looks doubtful as his message may not get through. The year is 1864…

Special Operations Forces (SOF) and X-band SATCOM: A Perfect Pairing

Since 2001, asymmetric warfare has become a keystone of US warfighting doctrine. Joint Publication 3-05, the DoD manual detailing asymmetric warfare, describes the complex nature of these “asymmetric” activities known as special operations, which range from direct action and counter-terrorism to foreign internal defense and humanitarian assistance. These operations are highly mobile, very specialized, and…

X-band and HTS: Clearing the Myths

HTS is in the news a lot lately. But as we’ve highlighted in previous posts, it faces several challenges in military applications. In this series, we have outlined ways in which X-band compares to HTS for a military or government user. XTAR is the tried and trusted solution and naturally suited for the military but…

X-band and HTS: Exclusivity

XTAR has one customer and one customer only: the military or government user. Why is that important? With a lot of talk recently about HTS, we feel it is important to highlight how we are different, especially from the user’s experience. This post is third in a series of four which examines key ways in…

X-band and HTS: Efficiencies

XTAR has one customer and one customer only: the military or government user. We see this as a strength, not a limitation, as everything we do is designed to ensure success for that end user. With a lot of talk recently about HTS, we wanted to explain how we compare, especially from the user’s experience.…