Keeping Warfighters Safer with Resilient Mission Timing and Synchronization

On the battlefield, knowing where your warfighters are is key to maintaining the tactical advantage. Equally important is knowing when they will get there. The ability to precisely track coordinates via GPSGlobal Positioning System is a navigation satellite system. See also/GNSS signals is essential for synchronized operations, such as planning the exact time to deploy assets and armed forces. Secure, reliable GPS/GNSS signals are key to effective situational awareness, providing critical Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNTPosition, Navigation, and Timing: PNT and map data combine to create the GPS service.) telemetry data for mobile military operations.

Timing data and mission synchronization are critical for most military applications such as navigation, weapon systems, radio communications, remote networks, surveillance and electronic warfare. To receive a GPS/GNSS signal accurately requires rugged, secure time and frequency platforms that can provide time stamping, time distribution and data synchronization throughout military missions using NTPNTP, or Network Time Protocol, is a widely used networking protocol that enables computers and devices to synchronize their system clocks with a reference time source. It ensures accurate timekeeping in computer networks by allowing devices to obtain precise time information from NTP servers, which are typically synchronized to highly accurate atomic clocks. NTP is essential for various applications and services that rely on synchronized time, such as network security, authentication, and data logging., PTPPrecision Time Protocol is a protocol used to synchronize clocks throughout a computer network. On a LAN network, PTP can enable the clocks on each server to be synchronized within a sub-microsecond range, thus making it suitable for demanding applications that require precise timing and control. PTP is standardized within IEEE-1588v2. or the latest timing protocol, White Rabbit.

So how are military forces using resilient timing in their critical missions? The following case studies present a variety of scenarios that illustrate how important timing is to mission success. Please feel free to download any of them and use them for reference or to support your specific application.

Military Aviation Missions Rely on SecureSync: Ultra-Precise Timing & Synchronization for Large Network Infrastructure
A military aviation customer needed an ultra-precise, real time network timing and synchronization solution to maintain accurate system synchronization on a global basis. This case study, which is appropriate for deployable communications systems, describes why the customer chose SecureSync as a network solution to support mission critical air, land and sea operations on a continuous basis, anywhere in the world.

VersaSync Delivers Resilient PNT and Mission Timing & Sync on Tactical Vehicles
This case study illustrates how a leading defense contractor installed VersaSync, a mobile, rugged mission timing and sync reference, onboard their tactical vehicles to distribute accurate timing to networked battlefield devices. They needed a proven solution that would be easy to install and could provide mission timing accuracy 24/7in hostile, GPS-denied environments. VersaSync was part of a major C4ISRA military system that encompasses the technology and equipment to collect data and communicate with other parts of the system. C4ISR is designed to provide situational awareness on the battlefield. battlefield management program in an Allied country, where it was integrated into a continuous operations platform for situational awareness.

Precision Timing for Airborne Reconnaissance
In this case study, the US military chose SecureSync®, the time and frequency reference platform, used to accurately receive critical reconnaissance data, allowing receivers on surveillance aircraft to stay on frequency and time stamp the recorded data for data center synchronization across military communications networks. Orolia’s unique solution, including sensor to sensor communications, compatibility with the aircraft’s vibration profiles, and configurable outputs, delivered a cost-effective solution to meet program requirements.

Synchronizing Resilient PNT Test Range Data
A critical defense test range required the latest time synchronization technology to collect test data and replace a legacy radio frequency distribution system. Orolia provided a GPS-based solution that combined mobile VersaSync and fixed site SecureSync resilient timing systems. This custom solution precisely time stamped recorded sensor data to ensure that multiple test events conducted within the same time frame could be analyzed accurately, while meeting rigorous signal output, small SWaP, environmental and mobility requirements.

Weathering PNT Data Challenges at Sea
A naval customer needed to ensure resilience against threats to critical oceanic data for safe navigation and situational awareness in the naval battlespace, and to synchronize timing for oceanic current modeling and weather patterns. Orolia replaced a legacy system that was unable to provide the data and decision support information required with SecureSync SAASM systems, thus enabling critical operations such as surveying and real-time mapping equipment for safe navigation.

Resilient Timing: Partnering with a PNT Expert
The case studies above demonstrate the importance of partnering with a PNT expert that can respond to the resilient timing and mission synchronization requirements of diverse military programs. Orolia’s proven timing solutions are available as COTS products or as customized systems to accommodate specific requirements such as:

• Small SWaP or ruggedization factors
• Reconfigured inputs and outputs
• Security and network interoperability
• GPS jamming and spoofing detection and mitigation
• Encrypted military signals
• Resilient PNT through holdover sources and alternative signals

Orolia delivers Time and Location you can trust. Contact us for a confidential consultation about practical solutions to your PNT challenges. Together, we can deliver systems that provide the resiliency, performance and agility required to keep warfighters safer and more effective in the air, on land and at sea.