GPS World Direct: Warfighter GPS Equipment Enabled Inside Armored Vehicles

Warfighter GPS Equipment Enabled Inside Armored Vehicles
From GPS World Direct

Keeping solders operational

A GPS repeater unit from GPS Source enables military personnel
to operate handheld GPS units and GPS-enabled training
equipment inside light armored vehicles.

In a combat situation, information can make the difference
between a successful operation and a failure. GPS is one of the
best means of location information for U.S. military personnel,
and soldiers rely on it for both training exercises and in
battle.

When Army personnel in Ft. Lewis, Washington, began training
with GPS-enabled equipment on every soldier -- a system called
Land Warrior, which includes an integral computer system, a
radio and a rifle-mounted video camera that are all part of an
individual soldier's personal equipment carried in combat
situations -- they discovered that the GPS equipment stopped
functioning correctly when the soldiers entered their armored
Stryker vehicles.

Grant Routzohn, Assistant Product Manager for Stryker
Integration with the Department of Defense at Ft. Belvoir,
Virginia, needed to find a solution. "When soldiers are wearing
the Land Warrior systems, their position is displayed on the
map in the Stryker vehicles and on the Land Warrior system," he
explains. "When the solider went into vehicle, we lost that
connection. The icons representing their position simply stayed
in place on the map, even through the soldier wasn't there."

This problem is a well-documented conflict between GPS
equipment and the military's armor vehicles. On the flip side,
another problem occurs when GPS handheld receivers lose lock
inside the vehicle: it can take several minutes to reacquire
when the soldier exits the vehicle -- a serious issue on the
battlefield when bullets are flying and seconds count.

GETTING ACCURATE DATA


Obviously this situation was unacceptable for many reasons, not
the least of which is that soldiers couldn't rely on the data
displayed by the GPS systems in the Stryker vehicle and on the
Land Warrior system once they entered or exited the armored
vehicles. In addition to inaccurate system data, the minutes
needed to recover the lost GPS signal once the soldier exits
the vehicle could be catastrophic in combat.

In his search for a solution, Routzohn found the GPSRKL1M
Military Mobile L1 Repeater from GPS Source. The GPSRKL1M is a
GPS L1 repeater system designed specifically for rugged, mobile
military environments. The product features a military style
cannon plug connector for DC power (Mil Spec 1275B), and comes
with a waterproof enclosure as well as the option to proof the
enclosure against electromagnetic interference. The GPSRKL1M
also features custom gain options to ensure a radiated power
level that covers only the required area.

Routzohn was so impressed with the initial trial that the Army
bought 75 units for a Stryker battalion in June 2006, 55 of
which are currently being tested on Stryker armor vehicles in
Ft. Lewis.

complete picture of the battlefield


When installed on the Stryker units, the GPS repeaters enable
handheld GPS units and GPS-enabled equipment (like the Land
Warrior systems) to continue their data connection in light
armored vehicles, thereby providing the soldiers with accurate
location data. The soldiers testing the GPS repeaters in Ft.
Lewis are already impressed with the results, and they plan to
take the units into combat with them when they are deployed
sometime in 2007.

"It's made them much more effective in doing their job,"
Routzohn says about the integration of the repeater units on
the Strykers. "It gives them a more complete picture of the
battlefield. Plus, it was an easy thing to integrate into the
vehicle."

The U.S. Army plans to implement more of the GPS Source
Military Mobile L1 Repeater into three Stryker brigades over
the next few years -- one each in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

GPS Source developed the GPS repeater solution to enable full
functionality of GPS applications within Humvees and light
armor. The National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) has recently established a set of
guidelines for allowing low power GPS repeaters for military
applications in light armored vehicles within the United
States. When deployed oversees, use and operation of GPS
repeaters are under the direction of the theater spectrum
management.

For more information about the Military Mobile L1 Repeater or
to receive a quote, visit the GPS Source Web site.
.

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