L3Harris Technologies showcases Waveform X capabilities in live flight demonstration

L3Harris Technologies showcases Waveform X capabilities in live flight demonstration
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 22, 2024

In a significant advancement for military communications, L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) recently conducted a successful live demonstration, highlighting the capabilities of a new, resilient waveform technology. This demonstration, held in November 2023, was a collaboration with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and marked a notable development in the field of secure, advanced communications.

During this event, L3Harris employed three of its software-defined radios, showcasing their functionality in supporting line-of-sight command-and-control along with data movement capabilities. This was achieved through the integration of the U.S. government-owned next-generation Waveform X into L3Harris's Pantera and BANSHEE 2 solutions.

The exercise involved the L3Harris Pantera radio onboard a GA-ASI MQ-20 Avenger aircraft, working in tandem with the L3Harris BANSHEE 2 radio, which was a part of the Mission Control Element on the ground. This combination, along with a third networked radio also positioned on the ground, effectively demonstrated the adaptive line-of-sight communications capability of Waveform X.

Waveform X, a non-proprietary U.S. government-owned specification, is designed to enhance the U.S. Department of Defense's capabilities in future mission concepts. As Lauren Barnes, L3Harris president of Broadband Communications Systems, stated, "Waveform X provides our nation's warfighters with the advanced communications needed to successfully carry out missions when faced with challenging future threats." She further emphasized the significance of this exercise in demonstrating the ability of Waveform X to connect air and ground nodes using existing radio form factors.

A critical aspect of Waveform X is its compatibility with pre-existing L3Harris solutions, such as Pantera and BANSHEE 2, which are designed to host advanced waveforms. Pantera is a ruggedized 3U OpenVPX system, serving as a precursor to the Rapidly Adaptable Standards-compliant Open Radio (RASOR) family. It aligns with the Sensor Open Systems Approach (SOSA) for communications chassis. On the other hand, BANSHEE 2 is a software-defined radio optimized for size, weight, and power, suitable for small form factor vehicles like Group 3 unmanned aerial systems.

Currently, L3Harris' implementation of Waveform X has achieved Technical Readiness Level 9, indicating its proven effectiveness in mission operations. Looking ahead, L3Harris plans to showcase Waveform X and its family of resilient waveforms on a Government Reference Architecture (GRA)-compliant RASOR within the next fiscal year.

Waveform X represents a significant step forward in the development of resilient technologies essential for the multidomain battlespaces of the future. It offers multi-access mesh networking designed to meet the demands of future conflicts, enhancing mission system connectivity. The successful demonstration with GA-ASI is part of a series of military-industry tests incorporating L3Harris solutions across various domains, demonstrating the company's ongoing commitment to advancing communication technologies for defense applications.