9 September 2025 14h00-14h30
Alexander Borghgraef (CISS)
The use of Radio-Frequency (RF) technology has been ubiquitous on the battlefield ever since its introduction in WW1. From the early wireless telegraphy and morse code, it has evolved to be used in the transmission of voice, data, images and video and telemetry, and in applications of command and control, guidance, the remote control of UAVs, and sensing and navigation.
There are however three major issues with the use of the RF spectrum.
An adversary can detect any RF source, attack it through jamming or direct fires, or attempt to intercept battlefield communications, jeopardizing the safety and operational capability of units in the field.
In peace time the management of the RF spectrum is up to local government institutions, and permission has to be asked and granted to use any portion of spectrum. And even in wartime, a large part of the spectrum will still be reserved for civilian economic activity.
The RF portion of the spectrum is congested and has a finite amount of space, and with the implementation of 5G this problem will get even bigger in the near future.
A solution to these problems is to move outside the RF spectrum, into the visible and the infrared. The available spectrum in this region of the electromagnetic spectrum is 2600 times larger than the entire RF spectrum of 300 GHz. Furthermore, the directional nature of light based communication implies that there is no or little overlap between nearby transmission installations, and even more importantly ensures extremely low probability of detection and interception. Furthermore, the optical spectrum is and will remain to be unlicensed.
The technology exploiting this frequency range is called Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC), and involves laser receivers and transmitters being coupled at distance using the appropriate optics. This brings a high-speed (up to Gb/s rates) spectrum diverse “wireless fiber” capability to the battlefield.
This presentation will discuss the state of the art of this technology, its military use cases in the terrestrial (static or on-the-move), airbourne (HAPS, stealthy drone control), maritime (above and under water) and space (intra-satellite links) environments, and point out the possible directions in which FSOC might evolve.
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