Tactical Space: Beyond Line of Sight Alternatives for the Army and Marine Corps Ground Tactical Warfighter.

摘要

United States Army and Marine Corps ground tactical warfighters find themselves conducting operations across greater distances and with more autonomy from their higher commands than ever before. As their areas of operations become larger in modern conflicts, and distributed operations become more the norm, deficits in the tactical warfighter's ability to conduct beyond line of sight (BLOS) communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), blue force tracking and situational awareness (BFT/SA), and position, navigation, and timing (PNT) become more noticeable and dangerous. The capabilities existing in the tactical space this warfighter operates within and from where he is supported cannot meet his needs now, nor will they likely meet his needs in the future. While upgrades and expansion of current satellite and unmanned aerial system (UAS) architectures will expand these BLOS capabilities, it is not likely they will increase sufficiently to reduce the deficit in support. A new regime, the High Altitude Area of Interest (HAAI) also known as near space, provides potential capabilities specifically tailored to the tactical warfighter. This thesis reviews the BLOS requirements of the tactical warfighter, identifies the current and future deficits in each area, and identifies emerging areas of support. It then provides recommendations on further development of integrated architectures spanning multiple regions, to provide efficient, persistent, and sufficient BLOS capabilities to the tactical warfighter.