U.S. ARMY GARRISON BAUMHOLDER, Germany (AFNS) —
Navy models from around the globe lately participated in Noble Skywave, a worldwide cyber contest, at U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder.
Noble Skywave is a multi-national high-frequency radio contest hosted by the Canadian Armed Forces.
This yr’s competitors introduced collectively 429 navy models from throughout 13 nations competing to find out who can most effectively make the most of high-frequency radio know-how.
Every crew was positioned into certainly one of three classes based mostly on the quantity of transmitting energy their radio station has.
Throughout the contest, groups arrange a completely functioning radio station and utilized their expertise to attach with different radio stations, some being 1000’s of miles away.
“There’s a set variety of stations enjoying on this contest, and our goal is to contact as a lot of them as attainable,” stated Airman 1st Class Matthew Recchia, 1st Fight Communication Squadron cyber infrastructure technician. “Whoever contacts essentially the most stations, wins.”
Excessive-frequency radio know-how and its operators are essential to the U.S. navy, allies and companions as it isn’t reliant on standard methods of communications know-how, resembling satellites or mobile phone towers that are susceptible to climate circumstances or an assault from an adversary.
If standard methods of communication have been to ever go down or change into inoperable, that’s the place high-frequency radio is available in. The know-how works by bouncing radio waves off the ionosphere, a layer within the ambiance that’s electrically charged by the solar, permitting communication between individuals which might be an unlimited distance aside.
“Final yr, our farthest hyperlink was 11,700 kilometers away,” stated Senior Airman Kelley Jay, 1st CBCS radio frequency transmission methods technician. “We communicated with a radio station in Peru from Germany through the use of this radio know-how.”
On this yr’s competitors, the longest connection the first CBCS made was with New Zealand, at roughly 18,000 kilometers away.
Most significantly, through the use of high-frequency know-how, one can ship paperwork, emails, orders or the rest wanted to make sure mission success.
Although it’s a contest, Noble Skywave gives the chance for navy companions to come back collectively to reinforce their expertise for a standard objective of defending the NATO alliance.
“The aim of the competition is to maintain our high-frequency radio expertise sharp,” Jay stated. “Nevertheless it additionally ensures the worldwide communications neighborhood is interoperable and able to reply successfully if the necessity arises.”
U.S. forces in Europe stay, prepare and function with allies and companions from strategic places throughout the continent to make sure a well timed and coordinated response throughout peacetime and disaster.
Inside their class, 1st CBCS got here in third place with a complete of 200 connections made with different radio stations around the globe utilizing high-frequency radio.
