Military HF radio shown to be viable for Internet relay chat in land, sea, and air applications

Military communications experts from Chesapeake Technology International Corp. (CTI) in California, Md., and Rockwell Collins Inc. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, demonstrated real-time Internet relay chat (IRC) over a high frequency (HF) radio link using automatic link establishment (ALE) to show the operational viability of providing IRC capabilities to aircraft, land vehicles, fixed-base land sites, surface ships, and submarines using military HF radio communications.

Experts from the two companies established the HF radio communications equipment using two Rockwell Collins VRC-100 HF radio sets between Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Richardson, Texas -- a distance 700 miles. CTI provided IRC Proxy software helped link the commercial IRC client and server applications with no modification.

The chat session included Internet participants from across the United States, communicating bi-directionally over the HF link in real-time via a standard Internet IRC server connected into the HF radio network by CTI’s HF Bridge system.

“This demonstration represents a tremendous leap forward in the operational capability provided by HF communications. It allows all types of platforms to participate in modern Internet communications from remote theaters of operation,” says Michael Kepferle, CTI’s president and chief executive officer.

Based on the extensive use of HF radios across many military, diplomatic, emergency response and law enforcement organizations, this capability could enhance operational communications and situational awareness in communications-challenged environments and situations around the world, CTI officials say.