Military System Offers Worldwide Cell Access

coondoggie writes to mention a technology in use by the U.S. military in remote regions of the world, which allows high-quality cell reception to reach troops. A portable box, called the Tactical Base Station Router, can serve as a gateway for cellular communications and VoIP network calls. Developed by Alcatel-Lucent, it allows deployment of reliable services in disasters, search and rescue operations, and (as has seen use in recent years) military encounters. "The TacBSR is available for U.S. government customers only ... Customers include the U.S. Army Reserve Command, which is using the TacBSR as a portable cellular system for forward-deployed operations and disaster recovery. The system allows U.S. Army Reserve Commands to take GSM-capable cellular systems anywhere they need to go ... Smaller than a laptop, the TacBSR can be used in a stand-alone configuration to enable communications for a small team or as part of a multibox mesh that supports a large geographical area."

Comments

Big Cellular Box

[cbelle13013]

Isn't this what the first mobile phones were? My grandfather used to have a big black box in his lincoln that had a phone attached to it and he'd plug into the cigarette lighter. It looked like one of these. Hard to say if he was doing a lot of global Special Focrces work though, that Lincoln never made it over 35mph.

Re:Big Cellular Box

[hcdejong]

Isn't this what the first mobile phones were?

No. This is a mobile cell tower in a box, not just one phone.

LoS or Satellite? Crypto? Trackable?

[loimprevisto]

As usual TFA is light on technical details. Did anyone pick up on how this works? I'm also curious about the encryption- they mention that it can be used for encrypted cell calls, so does that mean that the data/VOIP side is sent unencrypted?

One other thing just occured to me- if this is supposed to be for remote military operations, would it be of any use against an opponent who can track radio signals? I don't think cell phone protocols can do all of the fancy frequency hopping and other tricks that most military radios use...

Re:LoS or Satellite? Crypto? Trackable?

[KillerBob]

data from operational zones is usually set via secured sattelite communications. it's entirely possible to set up a link that's green and has enough bandwidth to carry several international VoIP calls. given that some cell phones can be used as data modems, it's also possible to hook up a cell phone as the transmitter for the transmission of encrypted data from a laptop computer.

but cell phones are great, operationally speaking, because they allow a way to reach an individual person quite easily without going through the hassle of arranging a call. it's unlikely that cell phones will ever be used (in voice mode) for really sensitive material, but we do have ways of passing information in the red while masking the content. code words, to begin with. a few other methods I can't really talk about. fact is, though, that for unsecured communications in the domestic theatre, cell phones are now the primary means of communication, and it's only logical that we start rolling out ways to use them overseas. they're never going to replace things like inmarsat, frequency hopping, and encryption, because they're too easy to hack (not that those other methods are 100% secure either). but they are going to make the job a lot easier for signal operators, in reducing the amount of chatter on nets, keeping them open for more important traffic.

obligatory disclaimer: I'm a signal operator in the Canadian Army. Yes, we do have guns....

Re:fuck the military

[Frosty Piss]

so when are you people going to overthrow that corrupt to the core government of yours?

Scheduled for 2008 time frame.

So how

[hcdejong]

does the TacBSR interface with the rest of the world? The article suggests it uses a VOIP link, but is that link wireless or wired? Does it have an Ethernet port, can it interface with telephony equipment?

Also, it'd be interesting to see what happens when you start a TacBSR in an area that already has cell phone coverage. Can you specify who can and who can't use the TacBSR network?
Can it talk to the billing system of the local telco (not so interesting for military use, but may be a factor during disaster relief, when civilians will use the system)?

Re:So how

[__aailrp9629]

Presumably this would work just like any other GSM network, where authorized users are given a SIM and then those SIMs be in the network database as allowed. The obvious downside of this is that some (all?) of the major GSM providers in the US either lock their phones so that only their SIM chips will work, or don't use a SIM at all.

I guess maybe they could just *read* the IMSI off of each user's existing SIM and then manually build the database, but that'd be a lot more work on the admin side.

Consolation

[Soulfader]

If it's any consolation, I just returned from Afghanistan in January and never even heard of this thing until now. Also, it's probably a hell of a lot easier to provide cell coverage to a few small areas with concentrations of US military personnel than to provide comprehensive coverage over North America. If you don't like your cell service, bitch to the company, not the military.

Many people did sign up for cell service on the base we were staged from, paying $40 or $50 per month for 500 minutes, though I think incoming calls did not count against that. I spent too much time out in the field for that to be worthwhile, though I did get internet access in my room whenever we'd come back to base for a week or two--again, $35/month for dial-up speeds (but worse latency; timeouts every fourth or fifth http request) with no English-speaking support and frequent DNS outages.

Yes, I'm horribly biased, but if DoD can provide something like this on the cheap for the guys downrange, more power to them. Very rarely was it worth it to me to wait in line for an hour to try to talk to someone from home for 15 minutes--assuming I could stay connected that long.

Re:fuck the military

[RocketScientist]

The US Military is the global first responder to natural disasters worldwide. Find a single natural disaster, even in countries where we're hated (Iranian earthquake anyone?) and you'll find the military and civil law enforcement doing search and rescue, communications, command, and control infrastructure. The tsunami in the indian ocean. The iranian earthquake.

And the exact response we get when we develop technology that has no real application to us making war, and only serves to make it easier for us to respond to disasters?

"fuck the military"

Yeah. Just die in the earthquake next time jackass.

Range on a single black box?

[thefuz]

Anyone have a guess on the range for one of these? I imagine it's gotta be farther than your run-o-the-mill router...

Re:fuck the military

[Red Flayer]

Historically, the English, French, and German governments have each started more wars than the U.S. government.

The world is a lot different than it was 300 years ago, 150 years ago, even 70 years ago. Furthermore, you're mistaken about the German government starting more wars than the US. I suggest you bone up on your European history.

What is important is what is happening in this era.

Besides, "b-b-b-but so-and-so did it first" doesn't excuse bad behavior.

The first thing to go - everytime...

[Cragen]

The "first thing to go out" in every emergency of any geographical size is the local cell phone system. (see Slashdot article just after Katrina) FEMA also carts around a mobile cell system in its fleet of emergency vehicles for post-emergency recovery and relief personnel. This article says it's referring to the Army Reserve, which generally shows up not too long after FEMA, as it has the largest inventory in-place. Also, the AR arrival is usually in the recover and relief phase, not the first responder phase. I think they are still having problems with the cell phone system down in south Louisiana.

Re:How about back home?

[Walt Dismal]

(looking at my new military cell phone billing regulations) Excess roaming charges: $15,000/minute. Yup, it's Mil-Spec all right.

Iridium?

[L. VeGas]

My brother worked on the Iridium satellite phone project back in the day. It seems to me that it's just as effective as ever and would be superior to this in almost every way.