Boeing and its subsidiary Insitu Inc. demonstrated a high-performance narrowband relay communications system aboard a ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The relay was designed to meet the needs of small distributed forces operating in areas where line of sight (LOS) communications would not normally be possible. The U.S. Defense Department has widely deployed handheld narrowband radios as the primary method of communications among small, distributed forces. However, these radios are limited in range and cannot communicate where the radios do not have a direct path to one another, Boeing officials say. The Boeing-developed narrowband relay, deployed aboard a small UAV, will provide a longer range and LOS capability over hills and buildings. The U.S. Special Operations Command, the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command have expressed interest in the results of the Boeing-funded demonstration, Boeing officials say.
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