[This article has been updated. Original publish date: July 14, 2022]
The criticality of robust, secure lines of tactical communication in military operations is of increasing importance – and L3Harris Technologies has developed a new waveform to counter current and future electronic warfare attacks and protect tactical lines of communication.
Wraith is a first-of-its-kind frequency-hopping Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) waveform for wideband voice and data with advanced, multi-layer anti-jam capabilities to support multi-domain interoperability.
“Wraith provides wireless IP connectivity directly to the warfighter, facilitating common, real-time access to critical information for mobile, dismount and command units at the tactical edge,” said Sam Mehta, President, Communication Systems, L3Harris. “This new low-Size, Weight and Power waveform protects and allows soldiers to maintain mission-critical communications with significantly improved anti-jam capabilities.”
Wraith is the latest offering in L3Harris’ full suite of anti-jam and resilient waveforms that provide connectivity for ground-to-ground, ground-to-air, air-to-air, Beyond Line of Sight and other applications that require large amounts of data to pass undeterred through large networks. These resilient waveforms use advanced techniques to protect and reduce the effectiveness of electronic warfare attack and detection activities that can expose friendly forces to targeting, interception and jamming.
“The risk of operating in a communications-denied or -congested environment will become the new norm against near-peer adversaries,” said Chris Aebli, President, Tactical Communications. “L3Harris has taken lessons learned across many military exercises to maintain NATO allies’ mission-critical communications in the presence of sophisticated electronic warfare threats.”
Wraith provides true resiliency for both high-assurance and commercial systems with an intuitive and easy-to-use configuration for expedited planning and deployment. With a simple software upgrade to a radio, users will be able to continuously evolve against emerging electronic threats.
The software-defined architecture allows for easy software upgrades on L3Harris’ Falcon® IV family of radios. Wraith operates on a standard kit, with no specialty hardware required, and offers an intuitive human-machine interface and a common look and feel across the Falcon IV line.
The self-forming, self-managing Wraith network provides wireless high-capacity data connectivity to users, enabling real-time applications, such as video surveillance, target and ground reporting and command and control for information superiority. The resilient, multi-use link to unmanned systems allows users to control air-, sea- or ground-based drones while streaming video and relaying voice and data in denied, disrupted, intermittent and limited bandwidth environments.
Voice is maintained on a dedicated channel, providing simultaneous secure digital voice and data capabilities with guaranteed access to critical voice communications regardless of network capacity or IP application demands.
Wraith supports emerging scalability requirements and offers distinct talk groups in a single network. It can extend for kilometers while supporting multiple voice streams during contested tactical-edge missions.
“Wraith delivers industry-leading resilience at the tactical edge, providing support for real-time voice and high throughput mission data for large networks,” said Tom Sheehan, Product Manager, Waveforms, L3Harris. “Wraith supports multiple resilient features including high-assurance encryption, anti-jam modes of operation and advanced filtering to ensure reliable communications for any future conflict.”
Wraith is part of the L3Harris full suite of resilient waveforms providing support for any mission.
