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Corps Is Using New Satellite Communication System

This new system brings SATCOM capabilities in various formats to Marines and improves their ability to communicate on the field.

A U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal is assembling an AN/PRC-117G radio on the flight deck of an amphibious assault ship. The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) adds updated firmware to the radio, giving warfighters more advanced satellite communications.” Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Tawanya Norwood.

The U.S. Marine Corps recently began using a next-generation narrowband satellite communication system called the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) to help warfighters in connecting to networks on the battlefield and communicate in a tactical environment.

MUOS works by using antennas that let Marines access SATCOM networks while also providing them with secure and nonsecure internet access. The system applies to both mobile or stationary marines and was fielded in the first quarter of 2019. It includes updated firmware to the AN/PRC-117G radio system and one of three antenna kits.

In a statement, Noah Slemp, a systems engineer at the Marine Corps Systems Command said, “MUOS is essentially software and an antenna capability augmenting existing hardware. It’s similar to adding an application to a cellphone.”

The Marine Corps intends to replace the older SATCOM infrastructure with the new MUOS waveform, enabling more Marines to access ultra-high frequency tactical satellite communications.