Moving out SMART-T …

Army Communicator, Winter, 2003

"Milstar was absolutely critical to mobile operations, both on our naval component for the control and launch of Tomahawk missiles and for our land component, the use of SMART-Ts. For the Marines and the Army, they were key to keeping electronic tethers on some very mobile headquarters."

--BG Dennis Moran, former U.S. Army Central Command J-6

It has often been said that information is fundamental to conducting effective warfare. Army and Marine Forces racing through the Iraqi desert towards Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom had the opportunity to find out for themselves how true that simple statement is.

These rapidly moving forces were communicating using a Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Tactical Terminal, a brand new satellite terminal which had never before been operated under battlefield conditions. The SMART-T, with nomenclature as the AN/TSC-154, is a joint, mobile, multichannel ground terminal designed to operate with the newest Department of Defense satellite constellation, Milstar. The primary mission of the SMART-T is to support field commanders with global, robust, jam-resistant and secure beyond line of sight communications. SMART-T is the only ground mobile terminal available to utilize the medium data rate payload on the Milstar satellites. The SMART-T provides range extension for the Army Mobile Subscriber Equipment between selected Node Centers, Large Extension Nodes, Small Extension Nodes and Remote Radio Access Units to support Echelons Corps and Below. The SMART-T also can be used for special contingency operations and is able to operate with other service's Milstar terminals.

"We have had great success with our SMART-T. I can't say enough about its reliability over the past six months of being online."

--Captain, U.S. Marines, 9th Communications Battalion, Officer in Charge

The SMART-T communicates with the Milstar satellites over the EHF, or protected, part of the frequency band. These terminals can be remotely operated and provide world-wide, jam-resistant, survivable communications. Additionally, SMART-Ts are capable of operating at data rates up to 1.544 megabit per second. The higher data rates mean faster service for warfighters and time is a critical element in combat. Air tasking orders which used to take an hour to transmit can now be sent and delivered in less than six seconds using the technology available with SMART-T and Milstar. Imagery in the form of an 8x10 picture can be sent in two minutes compared to a previous time lapse of 22 hours!

"They're working well and we need them. I have a dozen network shots that wouldn't work without my SMARTTs based on the distance and terrain we're covering. Also, the troops that are assigned as SMART-T operators like the system. It's easy to use and maintain."

--LTC J. Schleifer, 4th Infantry Division G-6 (former 124th Signal Battalion Commander), Tikrit, Iraq

During OIF, there were a total of 34 SMART-Ts in the theater of operations. The Marines, specifically the 1st Marine Division and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, used 13 SMART-Ts to facilitate communications requirements throughout their area of operation. After-action reports stated they could have used more SMART-Ts. The 124th Signal Battalion supporting the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq managed to install, operate and maintain the largest division communications network in the history of the Army thanks to the 14 SMART-Ts dispersed over a 90,000 square-kilometer area of operations. Minimal downtime was experienced throughout the conflict.

"With the Milstar medium-datarate capability, we had the equivalent of 32 T-1 data lines in orbit ... it takes just a matter of seconds to get land attack missile target information, or to reprogram a target, or send a mission-target update."

--COL Roger Teague, U.S. Navy, Former 4th Space Operations Commander

"There were SMART-T challenges that we had to overcome but we couldn't have done what we did from Kuwait to Kirkuk without the SMART-T. The 124th Signal Battalion's ability to provide communications in support of the Division Commander's movement was a huge success."

--LTC J. Baker, U.S. Army, Commander, 124th Signal Battalion

Reports continue to pour in from the field about the ease of use, the reliability and quick access that users had in securely communicating under very stressful conditions. It appears that SMART-T has passed its first critical test with flying colors.