Silvus Technologies eyes on-the-move capability for StreamCaster radio

A Silvus Technologies StreamCaster radio mounted on a Ghost Robotics V60-legged unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). (Silvus Technologies)

California-based mobile networking company Silvus Technologies is working with US Army officials to provide mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio capability to ground units on the move, a critical requirement to the service's evolving command post architecture under the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN).

The on-the-move (OTM) capability being developed by the company's StreamCaster MANET radio got a fiscal shot in the arm from the army in January, when service leaders inked a USD3.5 million deal with Silvus to expedite “expanded deployment” of the radio to support service units employing the ITN.

Specifically, the MANET radios procured by the army's Program Executive Office Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) under the January contract will be used for operational testing and validation scheduled for fiscal year (FY) 2025, according to a company statement.

StreamCaster MANET radios have already been deployed to infantry brigade combat teams (IBCTs) as part of the Capability Set 21 (CS21) iteration of the ITN, and then out to Stryker BCTs as part of Capability Set 23 (CS23).

“Those formations were providing exactly that connectivity between the brigade [and] battalion command posts, and, more specifically, Tactical Assault Kit position and location information [are] federated at these command posts” via a high-bandwidth, mesh-capable digital backbone, said Jimi Henderson, vice-president of sales at Silvus.

However, command post connectivity at the brigade and battalion level, via StreamCaster, was carried out with army formations at the halt, Henderson told Janes .