Arquimea and Viasat develop a multibando aircraft communications antenna for aircraft

The Spanish company Arquimea is developing, together with the American company Viasat, a satellite communications antenna for aerial platforms that can operate in both the X band and the Ka band. This antenna, called G-18L, was one of the novelties that the Spanish technology company presented at the recent edition of the FEINDEF fair as part of its satellite communications business line.

The G-18L antenna is a dual-band antenna specifically designed for installation in aircraft or large unmanned aircraft, allowing connectivity with satellites that operate in the X and Ka bands and being able to automatically switch between them based on availability.

This is a relevant capability for the Spanish Ministry of Defense, which is running the Spainsat NG satellite program, whose two satellites (I and II) will operate precisely in these two communications bands, a program in which Archimea also participates. And it is that military operations require more and more capabilities of communications systems, using mobile platforms that must maintain high data transfer rates at all times in a secure manner and that must be able to access different satellites, both civil and governmental. To maintain contact at all times despite operating in congested environments.

That is why Arquimea and Viasat have established a strategic collaboration whose first result is the G-18L airborne antenna but which will soon be extended to similar systems for land and naval applications. Viasat provides Ka band technology, while Arquimea is in charge of X band technology, the dual opening between both bands, a project in which the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) also participates. This collaboration in the design, as well as in the production of this technology, allows Viasat and Arquimea to offer the terminal to the Ministry of Defence, as well as to other Spanish and European Defense and Security clients, and to be aligned with the European strategy of having your own technology.

While the X band is traditionally used for military communications for its security features and resistance to adverse weather conditions, the Ka band offers similar security and resistance characteristics and abundant bandwidth in both military and commercial environments . This capacity is key, the possibility of resorting to commercial satellite constellations when government ones are not available or when it is preferred to opt for European providers.

Having this multiband capacity is a vital resource to ensure government communications for the Spanish Armed Forces, especially when they operate within the framework of international operations or beyond our borders. The ability to maintain high-speed satellite communications is key in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, search and rescue, border surveillance or support for special forces units, to name a few examples.

The G-18L antenna is presented as a single unit that includes the antenna and the radio frequency electronic components to operate in the X and Ka bands. It is designed to track Geostationary (GEO), Intermediate Circular (MEO) and Low Earth (LEO) orbits. (José Mª Navarro García)