Inmarsat Government launches next-gen L-band Airborne ISR Ultra-Lightweight user terminal

Inmarsat Government launches next-gen L-band Airborne ISR Ultra-Lightweight user terminal

(IN BRIEF) Inmarsat Government has announced the availability of its next-generation L-band Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Ultra-Lightweight (LAISR ULW) user terminal. The terminal, which is the latest addition to the company’s LAISR family of L-band terminals, delivers high availability, high performance, full duplex, secure beyond line-of-sight communications via the Inmarsat global ELERA L-band network. LAISR ULW reduces the total terminal SWaP while providing customers with high data rate throughput to support beyond line-of-sight communications. The terminal is enabled by Inmarsat Government’s Black ICE Medium Software Defined Radio, which implements the highly efficient Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite Second Generation waveform in a low-SWaP form factor. LAISR ULW can be retrofitted into an existing Inmarsat-enabled aircraft or implemented in a stand-alone configuration.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 26-Apr-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — Inmarsat Government, the leading provider of secure, global, mission-critical telecommunications to the U.S. Government, announced the availability of its next-generation L-band Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Ultra-Lightweight (LAISR ULW) user terminal.

The terminal, which consists of a core module and antenna, is the latest addition to the company’s award-winning LAISR family of L-band terminals. ULW delivers access to high availability, high performance, full duplex, secure beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) communications via the Inmarsat global ELERA L-band network.

LAISR ULW provides customers with high data rate throughput to support BLOS communications, while further reducing the total terminal SWaP.  Featuring an integrated antenna self-steering capability, ULW does not require external navigation data from the host platform and can operate in GPS-denied environments.

LAISR ULW is enabled by Inmarsat Government’s Black ICE Medium Software Defined Radio (SDR), which implements the powerful and highly efficient Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite Second Generation (DVB-S2X) waveform in a low-SWaP form factor. It also includes an advanced Radio Frequency Front End (RFFE), which provides robust filtering capabilities including automatic terrestrial interference protection. LAISR ULW also leverages Inmarsat Government’s multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) terrestrial backbone to transport customer traffic from the platform to its destination securely.

Customers can select from multiple antenna options, enabling them to tailor the terminal to meet their unique requirements. Antenna options range from compact omnidirectional patch antennas to fuselage-mounted, high-gain, steered variants. The terminal can be implemented in a stand-alone configuration or retrofitted into an existing Inmarsat-enabled aircraft.

Matt Wissler, Chief Technology Officer, Inmarsat Government, said “Beyond line-of-sight communications are a critical component of U.S. Government’s AISR operations, and our customers need a secure, reliable and flexible solution to transmit information. With LAISR ULW, we provide our users with another compact and customer-focused innovation that supports their aero communications requirements for a globally portable, low-SWAP, flexible high-speed solution.

“We built these solutions tailored specifically to meet our government customers’ mission-critical needs. The ULW terminal reflects upon their critical requirements for SATCOM-enabled BLOS connectivity and provides small UAS platforms (Group 2+) with a globally portable communications solution that provides high-rate return and maintains platform range to support ISR missions worldwide.”.

About Inmarsat Government

The U.S. government has relied on and trusted Inmarsat satellite services since 1979. Inmarsat Government continues to deliver the world’s most advanced global, mobile satellite communication services to U.S. defense, intelligence, homeland security, public safety and civilian agencies, with highly reliable, secure and affordable connectivity. Built with government users in mind, Inmarsat Government provides resilient, flexible capabilities to complement government satellite resources, anytime, anywhere. Leveraging an industry-leading scalable multiband network infrastructure, Inmarsat Government offers a suite of managed network services and end-to-end communication solutions to support users on land, at sea and in the air, even in the world’s most remote regions. Headquartered in Reston, VA, Inmarsat Government is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inmarsat Group Holdings Limited.

About Inmarsat

Inmarsat delivers world leading, innovative, advanced and exceptionally reliable global, mobile communications across the world – in the air, at sea and on land – that are enabling a new generation of commercial, government and mission-critical services. Inmarsat is powering the digitalisation of the maritime industry, making operations more efficient and safer than ever before. It is driving a new era of inflight passenger services for aviation, while ensuring that aircraft can fly with maximum efficiency and safety. Furthermore, Inmarsat is enabling the rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) and enabling the next wave of world-changing technologies that will underpin the connected society and help build a sustainable future. And now Inmarsat is developing the first-of-its-kind, multi-dimensional communications network of the future, ORCHESTRA.

In November 2021, Inmarsat and Viasat announced the planned combination of the two companies, to create a new leader in global communications.

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Media Contact:

Alena Koci – Inmarsat Government Communications
alena.koci@inmarsatgov.com

press@inmarsat.com

SOURCE: Inmarsat