How do you verify wireless communication in modern defence systems?

When components become a system, the conditions change
Drones, unmanned ground vehicles, tactical radio systems and autonomous platforms all rely on a stable and reliable communication link to carry out their mission.

The real challenge often begins when the antenna is integrated into the final platform. Design, materials, electronics and antenna placement all affect how the radio signal actually behaves. A system that performs well in the lab may therefore perform differently when used in a real-world environment.
When the antenna is mounted on the platform, communication performance can be affected by factors such as:

• antenna placement
• platform design and materials
• polarisation
• shadowing from other components
• reflections from the surrounding environment
• the interaction between multiple antennas

This is why more development projects need to complement component testing with Over-the-Air (OTA) testing of the complete system. By testing and verifying wireless communication performance under controlled and realistic conditions, development teams can better understand how the complete system actually performs before flight testing or operational deployment.

“The fact that individual components work as intended does not automatically mean that the complete system will perform as expected.”
Lars Granbom, CEO of RanLOS

Why LOS matters in many defence systems
For many defence applications, wireless communication needs to be verified under conditions that reflect operational use. For UAVs, UGVs, tactical radio systems and many other military applications, this often means Line-of-Sight (LOS), where the direct signal path between transmitter and receiver dominates.
In these environments, the antenna’s directional characteristics are critical to communication performance. Small changes in platform orientation or antenna placement can affect range, data capacity and robustness against interference, including jamming and other forms of electronic warfare.

For a reconnaissance drone, this may mean that video or sensor data does not reach the operator. Navigation may be disrupted if GNSS communication is affected. For an unmanned ground vehicle, it can impact command and control. When wireless communication is part of the system’s operational capability, these scenarios need to be reproduced under controlled and repeatable LOS conditions.
A controllable and repeatable measurement environment that reflects the operational real-world environment makes it possible to:

• verify the antenna’s directional characteristics
• identify weak directions and shadowing
• optimise antenna placement
• evaluate communication performance
• compare different designs
• repeat the same measurement under identical conditions

The same challenge appears across many modern defence systems – from reconnaissance drones and unmanned ground vehicles to tactical radio systems, Counter-UAS and other autonomous platforms. What they have in common is that wireless communication cannot be fully assessed until the complete system is integrated.

When communication problems are discovered in the field, it is too late
Discovering communication problems first during flight testing or operational evaluation often means that changes become both time-consuming and costly. The goal is not to replace flight testing, but to give development teams the ability to identify and address weaknesses earlier in the development process.

This requires test solutions that make advanced OTA testing of complete systems more accessible and cost-effective. It allows necessary testing to be performed earlier in the development process and directly in the development environment.

RanLOS develops accessible and cost-effective OTA test solutions that enable this under controlled and repeatable LOS conditions. Instead of relying solely on large external test facilities, development teams can perform more tests, evaluate design changes faster and make decisions based on actual measurement data.

When wireless communication is critical to the mission, it is not enough to know that the individual components work. What matters is the ability to test, evaluate and optimise the communication performance of the complete system before it is used in critical operational environments.