Orolia had the privilege of participating in the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Technical Experimentation event at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex, Indiana in late March. During this event, the Army scouted new technologies that provide positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) in GPS-denied environments. More details about the event are available on the Army's website
Special Operations Forces (SOF) play a significant role in U.S. military operations and, in recent years, have been given greater responsibility for planning and conducting worldwide counterterrorism operations. U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has about 70,000 Active Duty, National Guard, and reserve personnel from all four services and Department of Defense (DOD) civilians assigned to its headquarters, its four service component commands, and eight subunified commandsi.
Special operations are often conducted in hostile, rugged environments with a critical requirement for positioning, navigation and timing data to plan, synchronize and successfully complete missions. According to the Strategic Defence Intelligence Reportii., the global military GPS/GNSS market is expected to reach US$2.8 Billion by 2027 as GPS technology is at the core of navigation, tracking, communications and guidance systems. Orolia has prepared a tech brief to explore the specific challenges related to GPS/GNSS-reliant systems and potential solutions that the military must address to remain competitive. Challenges reviewed include:
- Degraded Vision Environment (DVE)
- Radio Frequency Countermeasures
- Operate in Denied Areas
- Platform Modular Design with Open Systems Architecture
- Enhanced Situational Awareness Systems
- Terrain Awareness/Alerting Systems
- Advanced Data Management
- Advanced Situational Awareness in All Environments
i U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress, April 20, 2018
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS21048.pdf
ii Global Military GPS-GNSS Devices Market 2017-2027, August 2017
https://www.marketresearch.com/Strategic-Defence-Intelligence-v3944/Global-Military-GPS-GNSS-Devices-11068926/
About Mike Sutton
Mike Sutton is an Orolia Defense & Security applications engineer specializing in aerospace and defense. He has more than 20 years in the RF and data communications Industry supporting DoD, PSPC and international government programs. His expertise includes software test, systems engineering and applications engineering. Mike holds a BS in computer science with a concentration in data technologies from SUNY Empire State, plus a variety of military and technology certificates. He spent six years as an active duty service member for AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command), and three years with the 914th Logistics Group, Air Niagara Reserve Station.