Design trade-offs in antijam military satellite communications

Military satellite communications system technical parameters, boundary values and anti-jamming trade-offs among parameters are described and discussed. These systems, which have become essential elements of command, control and communication structures for the U.S., NATO and the Soviet Union, are characterized by such features as global connectivity of commanders and forces, and instant reconfiguration which allows a single system to support services as varied as broadcasting, point-to-point voice communication, and teletype data, for tactical, strategic or logistic users. Attention is given to the anti-jamming concept of satellite position uncertainty, in which a group of satellites functions as uplink receiver, and a single, larger satellite is used as a downlink transmitter. It is shown that, by constraining design to a finite number of satellite orbits, frequency bands and satellite and terminal designs, a practical number of about 5000 different system designs can be stipulated for further study.