Better Communications Gear For Soldiers In The Field

The Navy’s new low-cost communication satellite, TacSat-4, uses a standardized platform, or bus, with mission-specific UHF communications equipment bolted to the front. Courtesy of the Defense Department

Small Satellite Could Pay Big Dividends On Battlefield -- Stars And Stripes

WASHINGTON — It’s small, it’s cheap — for a satellite anyway — and it might keep you from getting shot.

Tactical Microsatellite IV, or TacSat-4, a 10-channel UHF communications satellite developed at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to blast off next Tuesday from in Kodiak, Alaska.

Weighing in under 1,000 pounds and with a cost of around $150 million to build, launch and operate, the spacecraft is designed to blast down a radio signal powerful enough to free troops in the field from carrying heavy radio equipment and fiddling with antennas.

Read more ....

My Comment: No more carrying heavy radio equipment and fiddling with antennas .... just what soldiers want to hear.