Ultra CIS’s mission is to support its customers in achieving information superiority. Ultra CIS has a strong heritage of delivering innovative solutions to meet airborne connectivity needs across both manned and unmanned systems.
These capabilities increase the warfighter’s effectiveness by facilitating interoperability across the battlespace and ensuring wider dissemination of situational awareness and other critical information.
Systems integration and ISTAR for LITENING targeting pods
Ultra’s wide-ranging systems engineering experience combined with its ability to develop and deliver secure communication system architectures results in a powerful capability to act as an independent systems integrator. This capability encompasses complete systems through to subsystems on complex platforms, allowing Ultra to deliver a true ISTAR systems capability.
An example of Ultra’s success in this area is the UK’s LITENING III targeting pod for Tornado and Typhoon in which it is prime contractor in the UK. LITENING systems continue to be extensively used in current operations providing ground forces with close air support and reconnaissance, and have recently exceeded 30,000 flying hours on UK Tornado aircraft with 99.9% efficiency.
Video data links for LITENING targeting pods
Our video data link (VDL) technology is significantly increasing air land integration. It is currently installed on the LITENING pod system for the UK Typhoon and Tornado aircraft, and is also fitted to the UK Merlin. The VDL transmits full motion video and the associated encrypted meta-data to ground and surface forces.
Ultra’s VDL also provides proven interoperability with leading remote video terminals enabling the secure sharing of enhanced situational awareness data and imagery with mounted and dismounted ground component elements. Ultra’s VDL is also in service on a number of coalition platforms, providing shared situational awareness to ground troops on operations.
Data links for military airborne applications
Ultra’s multi link processor (MLP) products provide a single LRU, lightweight, flexible solution to single or multiple tactical data link operations and are approved for use across NATO. Designed specifically to meet the unique requirements of military airborne applications, the MLP contains embedded modem, COMSEC and processing. The MLP supports Link-11, Link 16, Link 22 and IDM. Ultra has supplied in excess of 1,000 tactical data link systems worldwide.
Data links for unmanned air systems, weapons systems and information exchange
The High-Integrity Data Link (HIDL™) is a family of flexible, networkable, software definable digital data links which are optimised to meet highly sensitive, time-critical information exchange needs, such as unmanned air systems, unmanned ground vehicles, weapon systems and information exchange between multiple platforms and/or nodes.
Developed to cope with the most challenging operational requirements, HIDL is typically employed as a secure network providing command and control (of platforms, sensors and weapons), enhanced situational awareness (sensor information dissemination – imagery, EO/IR, GMTI) or critical information exchange between multiple platforms / nodes.
High-grade encryption and secure communication systems
Ultra has built up an enviable track record in the provision of UK, US and NATO qualified high-grade encryption and secure communication systems. Ultra is currently supporting crypto modernisation initiatives in both the UK and the US, delivering the next generation of high-grade programmable cryptographic devices into service.
In addition, Ultra has significant experience in the integration and installation of high-grade cryptographic devices into platforms and the development and certification of the wider secure system architectures. Most recently, Ultra has provided integrated tactical solutions to the Canadian Maritime H-92 helicopters, C2 solutions to the UK Watchkeeper UAV, secure voice and data upgrades to the UK Tornado fleet and video integration to the UK RN Merlin helicopters.
