Isotropic Systems awarded US DIU antenna development contract

Above: US Navy vessels.
Images courtesy Isotropic Systems

As the US Navy expands the size and communications capabilities of its global fleet, the DIU is reviewing Isotropic Systems' patented beamforming antenna technologies and circuits as an enabler to fuse multi-band, multi-orbit commercial and military capacity to deliver intelligence data at the tactical edge over a single platform.

The collaboration contract is focused on the delivery of a low-profile, high performance, affordable and customisable antenna to support multiple links over multiple bands of satellite capacity, including S-, C-, Ka-, Ku-, X-, and Q-band connectivity, to open up a new world of real-time government communications and connectivity.

DIU will prototype and analyse the performance of Isotropic Systems' resilient optical beamforming terminals during an extensive series of environmental and interference chamber tests throughout 2020. Teams will measure the impact of harsh elements, such as intense winds, salt water, and electromagnetic interference (EMI), in preparation for installations aboard new-age Navy ships.

Isotropic Systems' high-performance terminal features optical lens modules that are conformal to the limited real estate aboard Navy ships, providing an antenna design that delivers seamless make-before-break switching between satellites in multiple orbits, and continuous connectivity during turbulent pitch-and-roll conditions facing vessels traversing rough seas.

"Isotropic Systems has cracked the code for a new age of seamless and secure connectivity and communications in some of the most challenging conditions facing government agencies and military operations around the globe," said John Finney, CEO and Founder of Isotropic Systems. "This important effort is potentially a major milestone that will ultimately lead to ultra-high-speed data delivery and real-time national security advantages that come with integrated government networks.

"We will enable the Navy, and other government forces and agencies, to arbitrage all the capacity it needs from across low-Earth, geosynchronous- equatorial and medium-earth orbit constellations over a single multi-beam platform."

DIU collaborative terminal reviews with Isotropic Systems will begin in the lab and may ultimately lead to milestone evaluations aboard US Navy ships.