Design and Implementation Challenges in Ka/Ku Dual-Band SATCOM-On-The-Move Terminals for Military Applications

This paper addresses key issues in design and implementation of Ka/Ku dual-band SATCOM on-the-move (SOTM) antennas for military applications. Space segment resources include (i) military Ka band with flexibility to extend into commercial Ka band and (ii) commercial Ku band. One example application is mounted battle command on the move (MBCOTM). Selection of SOTM antenna size should be based on performance, SWaP and cost requirements. Performance requirements may include: utilization of transponder resources, overall system throughput, and network QoS. Multiple sets of requirements may exist based on band of operation (Ka/Ku) and network topology (mesh, hub-spoke, and broadcast). Requirements to operate various global rain region categories must also be considered. This paper will address trade-off analyses and considerations for selecting a Ka/Ku dual-band SOTM antenna size to meet a given set of requirements