The USMC SRP effort started to satisfy urgent needs to improve battlefield communications. The app-oriented modular design allows the SRP to support a wide variety of requirements to include ISR, Electronic Warfare, and other processing and data handling functions.
The initial capability of SRP to the Marine Corps Shadow includes a jam resistant IP Router for netted communications on the move and a SINCGARS Relay that are both fully compatible with the current inventory of tactical radios. In addition, the SRP provides an RF collection application for the Automatic Identification System used for vessel tracking.
During a typical mission, the operator can use a simple drag-and-drop interface to select an application while on route to a convoy surveillance support mission. Once on station, the payload could do SIGINT collection while simultaneously performing beyond-line-of-sight UHF communications relay. If interference is detected on the communications channel the operator can select an interference mitigation filter, applied similarly to a Photoshop filter, or reprogram the communications channel form a pre-selected frequency plan.
Two key elements of the SRP are its non-proprietary design and a software developer’s tool kit that enables the widest community to develop applications. Non-proprietary, government defined standards, and government-owned applications reduce the cost of acquisition by “solving the problem once.” Department of Defense acquisition programs benefit from efficiency of re-use when applications developed for one platform may be rehosted on another without re-inventing common components and functions. The software development tool kit can be provided to academia, industry, and government laboratories and thereby stimulate innovation and competition to bring new and effective communications and collection applications to the Marine Corps.
The delivery of the USMC Shadow SRP is the completion of the “initial capability.” Additional pre-planned product improvements (P3I) are in the pipeline with new
capabilities coming online over the next two years. Several demonstrations are planned in the future, including UAS platforms as well as manned systems for
both USMC and Navy requirements.