46 · MT 2/2022 C4ISR Forum Technology Another solution to the signal saturation burden is to perform more signal processing “at the pointy end,” as Kilgallen terms it – specifically, at the antenna where the signals are initially captured, rather than at the systems’ processor. He suggests multicore processors and field- programmable gate arrays “allow more exquisite processing”. They ease the processing burden, so more system components can be shifted to the antenna, helping to reduce system size and speeding up processing, as the system has less to do by the time the signal reaches the processor. Perhaps the major challenge for naval COMINT is that there is just so much spectrum to watch. The trick is to tease the signal of interest from the prevailing background noise. Kilgallen believes help is at hand from advances in antenna technology. Increasingly sensitive transmitters will help zero in on the signal of interest. Advances in amplification technology will also help: invariably very weak signals require amplification to a viable level for system processing. But the surrounding ‘noise’ may also be amplified, causing confusion. This can be mitigated with the use of Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) – further advances in which should help ensure that even the most discreet or faintest of signals can be processed. The workload will also be eased through adoption of Artificial Intelligence. “In the past, the amount of information the operator had to handle was limited […] The signals were mainly analogue and most of the work was performed manually by the operator,” Elbit explains, adding this is no longer the case. “Today, operators are dealing with much more complex environments, both from a technical and operational point of view [and] modern electronic warfare generates a huge amount of information and advanced digital signals that cannot be efficiently managed by human operators”. Processing this ‘big data’ will be helped immensely by AI. Sophisticated algorithms will help to “receive, classify, produce and filter information, and eventually display the relevant information to the operator in real time”. Kilgallen observes that COMINT systems gathering intelligence in a cluttered electromagnetic environment will need all they help they can get “to target desired signals and de-conflict with undesired signals, all while dealing with potentially damaging interference”. Elbit believes this can be achieved through systems capable of simultaneously handling “huge amounts of signals in a wide frequency range,” achieved using very high processing power. These COMINT systems will also need to be technologically agile to “enable future adaptation and extensibility to emerging threats”. The efficacy of future naval COMINT systems rests on identifying advances in tactical and civilian communications. These challenges must be met with COMINT systems that accommodate such developments with minimal fuss. After all, no navy wants to have to purchase new COMINT systems for its fleet every time communications technologies take a big step forward. intelligence on all communications traffic, as Elbit Systems notes. This need for more processing power must be squared with other physical demands. Increased processing power must be balanced with ensuring COMINT systems do not draw excessive power, in Kilgallen’s view – and high power demands can cause excessive heat. Both are major concerns on naval vessels, where fire is an ever-present concern and COMINT requirements must be balanced with other systems. Space requirements are also of concern: real estate on a warship is always at a premium. At least current trends in electronics miniaturisation should help keep things relatively small, which has an additional benefit, according to Rohde & Schwarz. Smaller vessels can now house COMINT capabilities, which has major import for ‘brown water’ navies, operating in the littoral, using comparatively small platforms like OPVs. As TCI notes, naval COMINT technology is increasingly “deployed to protect lives and livelihoods at the national and provincial level”. In the littoral environment, as well as on the high seas, this helps combat human trafficking, narcotics smuggling and illegal fishing. Miniaturisation will allow naval COMINT to migrate to non-traditional platforms: TCI highlights applications like buoys or tethered drones. Passive collection of COMIN in littoral areas by drones could then be streamed in real time to remote COMINT analysts. They have the benefit of vastly increasing the monitored area: a COMINT antenna 25m high on a ship’s mast may detect emitters at up to 20km – a system operating on a tethered drone at 300m extends that to over 60 kilometres. UAVs pose a security risk to vessels in port, as well as port and coastal installations. Naval COMINT systems can be used to detect and locate both the aircraft and their pilots using their radio links. (Photo: Clément Bucco-Lechat) Vessel-mounted COMINT systems can typically detect emitters at ranges of tens of nautical miles from a ship. The adoption of technologies like aerostat or tethered UAV-mounted COMINT systems could greatly increase this. (Photo: IAI)
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