New NORTHCOM response vehicle now emergency-ready

The U.S. Northern Command has taken delivery of a new $1.2 million emergency response vehicle packed with satellite and terrestrial communications gear designed to support its quick-response Standing Joint Force Headquarters. That unit provides support to civil authorities in cases of disaster, or during major public events such as national political conventions.

Speaking during a demonstration Oct. 3 at the NORTHCOM headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., Air Force Brig. Gen. Kenneth Todorov, director of Standing Joint Force Headquarters, said the new vehicle gives his unit tremendous flexibility to respond to nearly any threatening situation.

Micah Ebersole, a communications technician with Standing Joint Force Headquarters, said in an interview that the advantages of the new emergency vehicle include a variety of communications gear packed into a Chevrolet Suburban SUV (modified by L3 Communications), increased capacity, a savings of $500,000 over the cost of its predecessor, as well as a total weight that is 9,000 pounds lighter.

The vehicle sports a 12-meter Ku-band satellite antenna that provides 2.5-Mpbs broadband connections to Defense Department unclassified and classified networks through a teleport the Defense Information Systems Agency operates, Ebersole said.

The satellite connections support data as well as video and voice connections, according to Ebersole, and with additional gear carried in a trailer, the vehicle can support 60 emergency responders.

The emergency vehicle can raise the relatively large Ku-band satellite dish only while stopped, he said. For satellite connections on the move, it uses a smaller, roof-mounted antenna that provides a 480-Kpbs connection through the Broadband Global Area Network satellite system Inmarsat operates.

Kevin Bell, communications chief for the Standing Joint Force Headquarters, said, "We tested this thing going at highway speeds and never lost a signal" with the BGAN dish.

Terrestrial communication with state and local police, firefighters and ambulance units is provided by radios built into the vehicle, Ebersole added. He said it also features femtocells, small cellular transmitters with a range of about 100 feet that relay signals from Sprint and Verizon cellular networks.

The emergency vehicle also has a built-in Wi-Fi system to provide wireless access for deployed personnel supported by the vehicle.

Cmdr. Joel Swanson, who manages NORTHCOM's information superiority division, said the command intends to acquire three more Suburban-based vehicles.