Have Quick
Have Quick(alsoHAVEQUICK,shortHQ) is anECM-resistantfrequency-hopping systemused to protect militaryaeronautical mobile (OR)radio traffic.
Since the end ofWorld War II,U.S. and Allied military aircraft have used AM radios in theNATO harmonised 225–400 MHz UHF band(part ofNATOB band[1]) for short range air-to-air and ground-to-air communications. During development and the procurement of UHF radios, military planners did not require features to secure communications foraircraftandhelicoptersfrom jamming until the post-Vietnam Warera. Progress in electronics in the 1970s reached a point where anyone with an inexpensive radio frequency scanner or receiver set could intercept military communications. Once the target frequencies were identified, radio frequencyjammingcould easily be employed to degrade or completely disable communications.
The Have Quick program was a response to this problem. Engineers recognized that newer aircraft radios already included all-channelfrequency synthesizersalong with keyboards and displays for data entry. The only other system requirements to achieve the desiredanti-jamfunctionality were an accurate clock (for timed synchronization) and amicroprocessorto addfrequency hoppingto existing radios.
Aircraft and ground radios that employ HAVE QUICK must be initialized with accuratetime of day(TOD; usually from aGPSreceiver), aword of the day(WOD), and a net identifier (providing mode selection and multiple networks to use the same word of the day). A word of the day is atransmission security variablethat consists of six segments of six digits each. The word of the day is loaded into the radio or its control unit to key the HAVE QUICK system to the proper hopping pattern, rate, and dwell time.[2]The word of the day, time of day and net identifier are input to acryptographic pseudorandom number generatorthat controls the frequency changes.
HAVE QUICK is not anencryptionsystem, though many HAVE QUICK radios can be used with encryption; e.g. the KY-58VINSONsystem. HAVE QUICK is not compatible withSINCGARS,the VHF - FM radios used by ground forces, which operate in a different radio band and use a different frequency hopping method; however some newer radios support both.
Particularities
[edit]- A national Air Force operates generally in a closed common user group. However, deviation to this regulation existed on German territory until 1990. E.g. the HQ-user of theGerman Air Forcein the North of Germany, operational subordinated to2nd Allied Tactical Air ForceusedHQ net-group 1,whereas the southern units, subordinated to4th Allied Tactical Air Force,usedHQ net-group 2.
- The co-ordination of HQ radio frequency channels in theNATO-harmonised UHF-band,the design of the so-calledHQ hop-sets,is provided in NATO-Europe in responsibility of theNATO Allied Radio Frequency Agency (ARFA)in Brussels.
- For training and exercises, HQ operates inpeacetime modewith limited frequency access. Four net-numbers may be used overlapping in net-group 1 and 2. However, intactical operation modethis limitation might be lifted.
- Some HQ-features are compatible to encryption hardware; e.g. to theKY-58 VINSON-family.
Utilization in the US and NATO
[edit]HAVE QUICK was well adopted, and as of 2007 is used on nearly all U.S. military and NATO aircraft. Improvements include HAVE QUICK II Phase 2, and a "Second generation Anti-Jam Tactical UHF Radio forNATO"calledSATURN.[3]The latter features more complex frequency hopping.
See also
[edit]- AN/PRC-152
- AN/ARC-164
- AN/PRC-117F
- AN/ARC-182
- AN/ARC-210
- B band (NATO)
- Combat-net radio
- Spread spectrum
References
[edit]- ^"NATO C3 Board, AC/322-N/0815, "The NATO Joint Civil/Military Frequency Agreement (NJFA), ANNEXD 1, page 1-7, harmonised NATO band type 1""(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-03-04.Retrieved2016-11-16.
- ^Navy Training System Plan for the AN/ARC-182(V) Radio Set, N88-NTSP-A-50-8115D/A, March 2000, Section G.1.a.(3)
- ^"SATURN radio connects U.S. forces to allies > Air Force > Article Display".