AN/PSC-5 SPITFIRE

The SPITFIRE (not an acronym) AN/PSC-5 Enhanced Manpack UHF Terminal (EMUT) is a lightweight, Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA), manpack, line-of-sight and tactical satellite communications terminal that will serve as a primary command-and-control single-channel radio for Army and Marine Corps MAGTFs and their elements. SPITFIRE, the newest single channel SATCOM terminal, provides DAMA and Narrowband Secure Voice capability. The implementation of DAMA will increase access and throughput for the warfighter. The SPITFIRE has embedded COMSEC and TRANSEC and weighs less than twelve pounds. Employed down to the battalion level, it provides range extension and reliability. It will be used to transmit intelligence traffic, interface with SINCGARS waveforms, and transmit/receive command-and-control traffic. Initial operational capability was achieved in early FY98.

Sources and Resources

• Tobyhanna producing components for new all-services satellite radio by Anthony Ricchiazzi (Army News Service, March 27, 1998) -- Tobyhanna Depot designed and built prototype components for the AN/PSC-5 "Spitfire" Satellite Radio Terminal, which replaces the AN/PSC-3.