Honeywell Showcases Game-Changing SATCOM Resiliency

Military and government operators need satellite communications capabilities they can count on when flying in contested environments. Honeywell has answered the call with satellite communications solutions ideal for en-route command and control, aeromedical, humanitarian and disaster response, head-of-state, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and other missions where beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) communications are absolutely required.

“Our customers have made it clear that there is no room for compromise in the modern connected battlespace,” said Wes Cook, Director of Technical Sales for the Honeywell Aerospace defense business unit. “They need resilient, redundant BVLOS capabilities to achieve their missions and protect servicemembers in the field.”

Honeywell recently took its SATCOM solutions directly to customers in Europe and the Middle East using the company’s tricked-out Boeing 757-200 flying testbed to show that military and government operators don’t have to wait for these capabilities to be developed.  

“Demonstration participants were able to experience first-hand how our solutions can provide the same situational awareness, command and control ability, and access to large amounts of data in real time in the air as on the ground,” said Paul Page, Technical Sales Director for JetWave MCX for the Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India and Asia Pacific regions. “Our customers were impressed because this is not ‘slideware’ or computer-generated models – these capabilities are available today, thanks to innovators at Honeywell and our partner companies.”

Strong partnerships bring outstanding outcomes

Honeywell worked closely with GovSAT, Hughes , Inmarsat and SES Satellites to stage the flight demonstrations, which were conducted in late February and early March in Luxembourg, Sweden, France, the U.K. and Saudi Arabia. The timing worked out well as the team was able to host dozens of high-profile attendees from the GOVSATCOM 2022 trade event in Luxembourg and the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia.

Included in the demos were representatives of the Royal Saudi Air Force, Swedish Air Force, NATO and representatives from the German, French and Dutch ministries of defense. Executives from leading aerospace companies including Sabena, Saab and Dassault were also exposed to the most advanced SATCOM solutions flying today.

Customers were duly impressed by Honeywell’s ability to demonstrate multinetwork capabilities. During the flights, Honeywell used hardware, software and network management and support capabilities to shift seamlessly between commercial and government satellite networks on the Ka-band and L-band frequencies. This unique ability to use primary, alternate, contingency and emergency (PACE) networks helps ensure uninterrupted connectivity throughout the flight profile.

There is connectivity in the air

“We took the opportunity to showcase the full range of Honeywell connectivity solutions, but the star of the show was really the JetWave MCX satellite communications system,” Cook said. “JetWave MCX is designed to meet the specific needs of military and government operators for high-speed, ultra-reliable broadband connectivity. The system can operate equally well on commercial or military high-speed Ka-band networks, which is an enormous asset to military operators.”

Introduced in 2021, the JetWave MCX is the newest member of Honeywell’s groundbreaking JetWave family of high-speed broadband SATCOM systems for airlines, business jets and military aircraft. It supports a wide range of mission-critical applications essential for operations on the connected battlefield.

The Honeywell GoDirect Router acted as the brains behind the missions’ success, successfully managing and monitoring network performance. In concert with the satellite selection console, the router easily changed configurations to control the flow of data over the different networks and satellite systems.  

Reliable communications increase mission security

“The military ecosystem that is more complex and contested than ever before,” Cook said. “Military commanders need redundant, no-fail, BVLOS-capable communications to succeed in their missions and safeguard the lives of service personnel. JetWave MCX and the GoDirect router enable enroute mission communications, real-time weather, inflight video conferencing, large file transfer, inflight mission planning and briefings, reconnaissance video transmission, secure communications and more.”

Flight demonstrations also highlighted the Aspire 350 and Aspire 400 systems, which deliver both cockpit safety services and high-speed L-band cabin connectivity over the Iridium Certus and Inmarsat SwiftBroadband networks, respectively. Other Honeywell products, including the company’s smallest and lightest SATCOM, designed to provide BVLOS command, control and surveillance capabilities for unmanned uncrewed aerial vehicles, were also highlighted as part of Honeywell’s comprehensive connectivity portfolio.

“This was a terrific tour that gave us the opportunity to share Honeywell’s industry-leading capabilities with key customers in Europe and the Middle East,” Page said. “Having our own Boeing 757 flight test aircraft gives us the ability, which is unique in the industry, to take our technologies right to the customer’s front door and demonstrate them under real-world conditions.”

For more information on Honeywell military and government solutions, visit us online or contact your Honeywell representative.