Rockwell Collins, a leader in tactical communications, is developing an advanced communication network with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) called Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT).
TTNT is a high speed, dynamic ad-hoc network designed to assist the US military in creating a rapid retargeting capability that will be critical across vital military operations.
This network is intended to support more than 200 users for secure jam-resistant transmission at Internet speeds, and to allow reception of four or more receive streams simultaneously. It is under development primarily for the US Air Force Research Labs and DARPA. Rockwell Collins has been awarded $22.1 M for Phase 3 of the program, which includes a multi-platform prototype demonstration of TTNT.
In 2001, Rockwell Collins was awarded Phase 1 of the program, valued at $1.5 M. This phase included the development of TTNT requirements and a preliminary design of the technology. Phase 2, valued at $6.5 M, includes a complete hardware design, full-scale network simulation and an air-to-ground demonstration that verifies the ability to transmit data over 100 nautical miles. During Phase 3, 20 prototype terminals will demonstrate and validate the Phase 2 ad-hoc network simulations. TTNT's network formation is simple, with automatic network organization and key exchanges performed anytime, even enroute. Additionally, the secure, Internet Protocol-capable tactical network coexists with fielded technologies including Link 16, and is interoperable with the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) at the base band network layer. This high speed network enables net-centric sensor technologies to correlate data among multiple platforms by precisely geo-locating time critical targets.