WELKIN SCIENCES, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: DTRA202-005

Description

Welkin Sciences proposes investigating scintillation-hardening techniques applicable to DoD's strategic communication systems, focusing on hardening specific SATCOM links within the Ballistic Missile Defense System Communications Network that are of particular interest to DTRA and its customer, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). These new scintillation-hardening techniques are based on computationally-intensive signal processing methods that have only become practicable with recent advancements in digital processing technology. Some techniques require the scintillation-hardened link to employ multiple widely-spaced ground antennae connected to the ground transceiver using low-latency data links. MDA has specifically requested that this research program investigate how the Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW) specification might be modified to better support scintillation-hardening techniques. The investigations will employ high-fidelity computer link simulations utilizing several DTRA codes that characterize and emulate RF signal scintillation caused by high-altitude nuclear weapon detonations. Since DTRA and MDA are also concerned about electronic counter-measures (ECM), the computer link simulations will also include emulations of the jamming techniques that adversaries are expected to employ against MDA's SATCOM links. This simulation-aided link analysis and design project anticipates a future research project for development of testable hardware prototypes of the most promising scintillation-hardened communication system designs emerging from this research.