Sea-Based Tracking: TCS Antennas Extend Reach with the MATSS Barge
July 9, 2025 - Delta Information Systems
Deploying telemetry and tracking systems at sea presents unique operational challenges—limited line-of-sight, motion from waves, and dynamic environmental conditions. That’s where Delta Telemetry Systems’ TCS tracking antennas shine. Mounted directly on the Mobile Aerial Target Support System (MATSS) barge, TCS solutions extend the telemetry footprint over open water, ensuring mission-critical connectivity during live missile and aerial tests.
What Is the MATSS Barge?
The Mobile Aerial Target Support System (MATSS) barge is a sea-based telemetry and communications platform operated by the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF). Originally designed to track airborne targets, the 78-meter-long, 24-meter-wide vessel supports missile launches, ballistic and subsonic alike, essentially offering a self-contained test center capable of receiving, processing, and distributing downlinked data in real time.
Why Choose TCS on a Floating Platform?
Extended Overwater Reach
Land-based tracking stations have visibility limits. The MATSS barge eliminates that barrier, and when equipped with TCS antennas, it captures uninterrupted telemetry across oceanborne trajectories.
Maritime Resilience
Sea states introduce vibration, pitch, and roll. TCS’s auto-tracking precision remains accurate despite onboard motion, wind, and salt-laden conditions, critical for reliable telemetry acquisition.
Seamless Integration
The barge isn’t just a platform; it houses power generation, command systems, real-time processing gear, and TCS antennas. This tight integration enables a plug-and-play tracking environment that’s flexible and mission-ready.
Real-World Applications
- Ballistic Missile Testing
During overwater launches, TCS antennas feed live trajectory data to onboard telemetry systems for downstream analysis and defense validation. - Aerial and Towed Target Flights
The barge enables full flight monitoring, relaying data from test vehicles throughout their maneuvering envelope.
System Capabilities
- Marine-rated, auto-tracking antennas in every aperture size we make from 4-foot (1.22-meter) to 24-foot (7.3-meter)
- Precision targeting with integrated Antenna Control Units (ACUs)
- Rugged construction for shipboard stability in dynamic sea conditions
- Compact, mobile form factors designed for limited-deck environments
- Real-time tracking with high-gain performance across L, S, and C bands
- Seamless integration with onboard telemetry receivers and data links
Why It Matters
Sea-based telemetry tracking significantly extends program flexibility, allowing test missions far offshore, autofocus capability where needed, and a responsive platform when shore stations can’t guarantee coverage. TCS on the MATSS barge ensures mission success with real-time connectivity, reliability, and precise signal acquisition.
By combining advanced TCS tracking systems with the mobility and reach of the MATSS barge, test programs gain a decisive edge in flexibility, coverage, and data reliability. This floating testbed supports the growing need for real-time overwater telemetry, crucial for validating today’s complex airborne and missile systems. Whether positioned nearshore or deep into the Pacific range, the MATSS barge equipped with TCS technology delivers performance you can count on, even in the most remote and demanding test environments.
