Implementation of an adaptive HF network for the Swedish armed forces

Their have been major advances in the field of automatic and adaptive radio communication systems. Advances in such diverse areas as frequency management, automatic link establishment, modem technology, networking protocols and message handling systems have led to the possibility of separating the user from the radio. They have led to the concept of HF as a transparent subnetwork within a wider communications infrastructure, and they have led to the idea of radical new approaches to the allocation and utilisation of the HF band itself. A system that consolidates many of these advances is under development for the Swedish armed forces. The contract was awarded by the Swedish Defence Material Administration (Forsvarets Materielverk) to GEC-Marconi after an extensive evaluation of the proposed solution involving computer simulations and on-air trials over an 18 month period. This paper describes some of the key concepts of the system and outlines the main elements involved in its implementation