Exelis and Iridium Demonstrate New DTCS Global Services

A soldier using an Exelis radio. Photo: Exelis

[Via Satellite 12-192014] Exelis and Iridium Communications have successfully demonstrated a new global-reach communications capability for the United States Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) Distributed Tactical Communication System (DTCS). The capability, once deployed, will advance the Department of Defense’s (DOD) critical satellite communications network, bringing secure, reliable and global communications services to users in the defense and intelligence community operating anywhere around the world.

In partnership with DISA’s Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) program office, the team demonstrated real-time, push-to-talk voice and data communications that connected users in regions across the globe, including Virginia, Arizona, Hawaii, Alaska, Australia and locations within the Arctic Circle. The global services capability will provide command and control, as well as situational awareness, through inter-theater, on-the-move communications between distributed tactical units and multiple echelons of command around the world.