The communications company Orbit displayed its OceanTRrx4 Mil antenna at the Sea Air Space in early April. Zona Militar spoke with Asaf Punis, Orbit’s Vice President for Global Marketing and Business Development, about why the US Navy and other naval services should be interested in their Ocean satellite communications (SATCOM) antenna.
The commercial version of the system, OceanTRx4, has been in the market for over a decade, since 2013. The military version, OceanTRx4 Mil, was introduced around three years ago, in 2022. “We ruggerized it for military standards,” Punis explained. A European NATO Navy is already operating the system. “We have supplied dozens of these antennas, and more will be delivered in the future.”
The Ocean family has different models for civilian and military operations. Moreover, the OceanTRx4 Mil is the medium-sized version, and the OceanTRx7 Mil is the larger version—the version displayed at Sea Air Space was the medium version. The Mil antennas can be further subdivided into two versions: a tri-band and a quad-band.
The April expo was the first time the OceanTRx4 Mil quad-band system was presented in the United States. “We are exploring opportunities in the United States with the US Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. We are exploring the market,” Punis explained.
It is already in the market and used by one NATO navy, and the company is now looking for US interest. The Orbit executive talked about what makes the antenna ideal for navies: it operates in 4 bands, it’s multi-orbit, it has “great performance, and it can integrate with other networks.” The OceanTRx4 Mil quad band operates in the X, Ku, Ka commercial, and Ka military versions. “This is the only antenna worldwide with these capabilities that allows a wide range of functionality,” Punis explained. The compact version of the system is “extremely important for Navies and Coast Guards as vessels have very limited real estate,” the company told ZM.
In response to a question about what makes the OceanTRx4 Mil ideal for navies compared to other antennas and terminals in the market, Punis listed the reasons: quad-band capabilities, multi-orbit, “powerful antenna performance,” and modem agnostic. “Depending on the end user requirement, we can integrate into any networking seamlessly,” the company explained.
Orbit also displayed other systems at Sea Air Space, including the Multi-Purpose Terminal 30 (MPT 30) and Multi-Purpose Terminal 46 (MPT 46). The antennas are “truly multi-purpose,” Punis argued, as they can be installed on a variety of systems: ground vehicles, crewed aircraft, drones, small vessels, submarines, and uncrewed surface vessels. “Any platform that requires SATCOM can use our systems,” the company explained. For example, the Orbit executive said the MPT 46 has been installed on ground vehicles like the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).
At the expo, Orbit also displayed its brand-new electronically steered array (ESA) antenna. ZM was told a prototype will be ready by the end of 2025, and production will commence by the end of 2026. The ESA is “suitable for ground, airborne, and maritime platforms,” the Orbit executive explained, “since it is a full-motion antenna with no calibration or alignment needed, providing the user full flexibility in SATCOM operations.”
As for the future, integration into combat networks is a company objective. In September 2024, a complex maritime uncrewed systems (MUS) exercise took place in Portugal, called REPMUS 2024 (Robotic Experimentation, and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems). Last year’s iteration had 23 nations as active participants, with around two thousand people involved, around 20 ships, and around 700 separately stage events.
Orbit participated, and one of its MPTs was installed aboard the Portuguese Navy’s uncrewed maritime vehicle UAM-647 Macaréu. “This deployment showcases our technology’s role in enhancing maritime operations and supporting defense readiness,” the company announced in a social media post. Speaking about REPMUS, Orbit’s Punis told ZM, “we controlled a USV throughout a SATCOM antenna for three days.”
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