Abstract:

In the Royal Thai Army (RTA), there are not enough military systems to satisfy projected communications demand. Unfortunately, budgetary pressures will make it difficult for the services to satisfy the projected communications demand with dedicated military assets. One possible solution may be to employ commercial communications to augment military communication capacity and coverage. In Thailand, the development of the broadband satellite system will provide an opportunity to the RTA to develop mobile C4I systems using Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) equipment. This paper describes key points in the development of a Military-COTS mobile satellite earth station. The powerful IPStar satellite system is on the way and the military will be able to exploit this extra flexibility without having to make major investments themselves. The proposed system in this paper will be a means to achieving long-term cost of ownership savings, year after year for the C4I systems.