PacStar 400-Series Platform for SCOUT in ITN
The US Army Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) has awarded a contract in support of its Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) programme to PacStar, the Portland-based company announced on 22 September.
The ITN is a concept that incorporates the Army’s current tactical network environment with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and transport capabilities to enable communications in disconnected, intermittent and limited (DIL) bandwidth environments. The company is to deliver its PacStar 400-Series platform for SCOUT (Scalable Class of Unified Terminals).
“As the US Army and other DoD organizations continue to pursue expeditionary style warfare and engage more agile, smaller units, they must support on-the-move warfighters who often enter remote and mobile environments with limited communications equipment and uncertain infrastructure,” said Peggy J Miller, PacStar CEO. “PacStar offers a proven, and reliable tactical communications platform that demonstrated superior size, weight and power (SWaP) capabilities during ITN tests, accelerating DoD modernization efforts.”
SCOUT provides small teams with expeditionary satellite capabilities for low bandwidth communications and exchange of secure and non-secure data, voice, and video. PacStar 400-Series solutions will be delivered to four Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCT) as part of the ITN Capability Set 21 rollout, delivering key capabilities optimized for small, agile units. This will enable:
- Improved agility for smaller units. The Army now operates with smaller teams such as Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB), which require lightweight communications equipment that allow them to quickly manoeuvre. With the 400-Series family of small form factor modular communication products, unmatched agility is now available, as it includes routing, switching, and advanced network services in lightweight packaging.
- Simplified training and deployment. With this modular and extensible platform, users can train once and operate multiple systems over time. By adopting the PacStar 400-Series, the ITN programme can ensure commonality of the platform across IBCT. Because expeditionary troops frequently rotate, taking their operating knowledge base with them, a common platform reduces overhead and training costs.
- Reliability. The 400-Series is extensively tested by third party laboratories to meet demanding MIL-STD environmental requirements, and is field proven in multiple, large, DoD programs – ensuring maximum communications uptime even in austere environments.
PacStar also provides the baseband solution for the Army’s Transportable Tactical Command Communications (T2C2) programme, also based on the PacStar 400-Series. T2C2 is providing SCOUT in support of the Army’s SFAB. As a result of this contract, a SCOUT variant will be included in the ITN, providing commonality across platforms and reducing the unique hardware components in the Army network.
