Tactical and deployable communication devices and tools have always been at the heart of operational deployments. Despite this, the tactical domain has often historically remained a set of silo and proprietary solutions. As pieces of technology, they have often been developed in isolation and subject to a lack of interoperability. As demand for data in the tactical edge has increased so too has the need for higher speeds connectivity. In comparison, the commercial world has evolved to embrace standards based communication infrastructure and services that are driven by consumer appetite for streaming services.
The Multi Domain Combat Environment places greater emphasis on multi-force collaboration. As a result it is increasingly important that interoperability between tactical domains is delivered in a single, agile environment. This ensures the efficient delivery of information to all parties and enables mission execution in an integrated and resilient environment.
Lee Woodland, Product Manager for Tactical and Wireless Solutions at Airbus has spent the majority of his career working as an Engineer and Product Manager in commercial and Fixed and Mobile Telecoms as well as running his own business for a number of years.
Investing in the Multi Domain Combat Environment
Airbus has extensive experience in delivering secure solutions based on commercial technology for a range of military, governmental and public safety customers. For more than 10 years we provided a wide portfolio of deployable cellular communications for deployed and mobile sites, an example being the French Army BLR-IP project. This large fixed site provides a 20km radius wireless cell so that users can maintain mobile connectivity over a wide deployed area.
"The BLR-IP system has proven to be particularly well suited to remote deployments with a high density of logistical requirements. These areas include the South-Saharan operational theatre. BLR has also demonstrated its effectiveness in securing major events in our own national territory. Its evolution towards a standard 4G (with evolution to 5G) will guarantee a much higher operational performance by offering improved voice and data exchange services at very high speeds, which would be very secure if it were associated with a tactical LID module." Major General Charles Beaudouin
The success of this partnership and an increasing market demand for both 4G and 5G based services has led to Airbus extending this expertise into both the deployable and tactical domain and the development of a new range of mobile technologies – the Everus product range.
Everus for critical communications in extreme conditions
The Everus product range enables critical communications in extreme conditions, for all types of operations and is compatible with a large range of secure LTE terminals. Also designed to ensure 5G/LTE communication, the Everus solution is high bandwidth, wireless IP ‘LTE Bubbles’ supporting a range of Mission Critical applications and services, including Voice, Video and C2. These services and products are equally applicable to Civil Defence and Military communication networks. Everus is compatible with standard mobile devices and computers with a consistent software front end that enables the tailoring of the end equipment to meet customer need. This also counters the requirement for expensive, dedicated tactical communications tools which often only provide relatively low-bandwidth connectivity. To differentiate for the military user Everus Portable V1 has been designed using, lightweight, Military specific hardware, designed for harsh and challenging environments, with a wide range of flexible power options. It also comes with a range of Man portable and vehicle fit accessories.
The benefits of Airbus Everus solution
To address the Tactical communication needs, Airbus is creating a portfolio of offers which take advantage of both emerging and mature technologies.
Everus uses LTE technology to create a private communications bubble and can run on a wide variety of standard commercial hardware platforms. It benefits from a small and extremely efficient Virtualised Compact Network Core. This means that it can run on a very small hardware platforms, such as a Raspberry Pi for small discreet deployment needs or can be scaled up to address for larger volume requirements of up to 5,000 users with totally redundant and resilient configurations. Everus software is totally hardware agnostic. Airbus has loaded the Everus software onto, what it believes, is the optimal hardware platform form the majority to users. This is supported by a consistent software front end enabling tailoring of the end equipment to meet customer needs.
