Joint Navigation Conference 2015 Session C5: GPS in Military Applications/NAVWAR 2

SWAP Constrained SAASM GPS Solution for Rifleman Radio AN/PRC-154

Mr. Daniel Weinman from the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics RD&E Center (CERDEC) and Mr. M. Sayeed Hasan from the Tactical Radios (PM TR), PEO C3T, Mr. Naresh Babu Jarmale, Mayflower Communications Company, Inc. and Mr. Wade Owen, Thales Defense & Security, Inc. participated in the advanced Research and Development of the SAASM GPS Dongle. After the multi-year program Mayflower developed an attachment for the Rifleman Radio that brings SAASM to the handheld radio and can network within the US Army Nett Warrior system.

Mr Weinman briefed the results of the program at the Joint Navigation Conference June 2015 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida. In the briefing it discussed how GPS receivers serve as a great utility to the warfighter providing critical position location information (PLI) data and accurate time. The value of these receivers has not gone unnoticed as they are now being utilized in a wide range of military applications. One such device taking advantage of the benefits of a GPS receiver is the Rifleman Radio. Embedded in the Rifleman Radio is a commercial GPS receiver capable of tracking C/A code. Unfortunately, with the proliferation of GPS receivers in use by the military, there has been an increase in the desire to disrupt or deny the GPS signal. As a result, the Army has mandated that all GPS receivers in use be SAASM compliant, as per section C6.11 of the GPS Security Policy. In order to comply with this mandate, the existing Rifleman Radio would have to undergo costly hardware changes or face replacement. However, in an SBIR effort for PM Tactical Radios, Mayflower Communications Company, Inc. and Thales Defense and Security, Inc. developed a dongle attachment solution for the Rifleman Radio. The dongle utilizes the side connector port to bypass the internal GPS receiver and supply SAASM generated PLI data to the Rifleman Radio. This SAASM GPS dongle addresses challenges associated with the size, weight and power consumption (SWAP) while ensuring that the radio’s performance remained unaffected. Cosite interference was also a concern as the power emitted by the radio is much greater than the received GPS signals. Tests were conducted by Mayflower and CERDEC with support from PM TR to determine the effects the Rifleman Radio and SAASM dongle had on each other, and whether the addition of the SAASM dongle increased the reliability of the PLI data. Field tests of Rifleman Radio and SAASM dongle were conducted by CERDEC at Fort Huachuca, AZ in GPS jamming and the results compared with DAGR. The Rifleman Radio with GPS dongle performance was comparable to DAGR performance in jamming. Our test results show that the dongle solution is a viable approach for secure communications in a tactical environment. The design characteristics and results of testing will be the main focus of this discussion.