Get SAT reports that the Hughes combined HeloSAT satcom solution transmitted consistent, real-time, full-motion video from a Black Hawk helicopter during a recent in-flight demonstration. The HeloSAT solution sent live, HD video from the cockpit, through the rotor blades, to a satellite and through to mission control within seconds as it surveilled a Tennessee landscape in a May 21 test. The HeloSat solution includes a fuselage-mounted Get SAT Milli SAT terminal, Hughes HM series modem with proprietary through-the-rotor waveform, and network management.
Get SAT CEO, Kfir Benjamin said “Consistent BLOS communications has been a requirement on rotary wing platforms for decades. Now with the combination of Get SAT and Hughes, the warfighters have real-time, wideband BLOS communications to support ISR, enroute direct action planning, and multiple other data exchange requirements. This capability will prove to be groundbreaking in the expansion of tactics, techniques, and procedures on current and future rotary wing platforms.”
Hughes Defense Senior Director Wayne Marhefka said customers in Spain, India, and USA watched the demonstration via livestream. Marhefka said the flight validates the solutions’ ability to support Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), search and rescue, emergency response, and airborne command missions aboard rotary aircraft. The Demo was held in partnership with Get Sat, Hughes, DataPath, Applied Concept Group, Intelsat, and XP Services.
“Throughout the 30-minute flight, HeloSAT maintained the live-stream video feed — something I’ve never experienced before on a rotary wing,” said John Wellington, chief flight instructor of XP Services, and former 160th Special Operations Aviation Regimen flight lead, who piloted the Black Hawk for the demonstration. “Maintaining connectivity for the duration of the mission is critical.