Four generations of tactical weather terminals-better, smaller, cheaper

Warfighters in the field and military headquarters worldwide make extensive use of tactical weather terminals to receive and process images and data directly from both polar-orbiting and geostationary weather satellites. The U.S. weather satellites are now operated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Several foreign governments also operate meteorological satellites. The earliest tactical terminal, the late 1970s vintage Mark nV transportable van, weighs 25,000 lb and uses 8-bit microprocessors to process polar satellite imagery. The more capable Mark TVB (late 1980s vintage) uses mini-computer technology but is too large to be transportable. The much more transportable Small Tactical Terminal (STT) in use today is nearly as capable as the MARK IVB and is in the 500 to 800 pound class. The STT was developed in the spirit of "acquisition reform" to take advantage of advances in technology. It has high commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) content and its hardware is easily upgradeable. The "Tiny Tactical Terminal" (T3) is about a year and a half into development; one version will nearly be a "tactical terminal in a backpack." The paper provides a brief technical view of each of these four generations of terminals, and shows how progress in technology has driven miniaturization and increased mobility of tactical terminals at reduced cost to meet a single overall goal-increased availability of better weather data.