Information Warfare: April 27, 2003

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Another piece of equipment that performed excellent service during the Iraq war, but will get little mention in the media, is the AN/USC-60 portable satellite dish. The 1.8 meter (six foot) dish traveled in eight waterproof cases, altogether weighing 860 pounds. The dish could be set up and operational within 30 minutes, connecting ground units to world wide communications systems, including the Internet.. This dish was compact enough so that you could get it inside a large tent, and out of bad weather. The dish is actually a civilian piece of equipment, L3 Communications FTSTAT system. Aside from electronic modifications for some military satellites and a different pain job on the cases, it's the same as the civilian equipment.