(U) AN/SMQ-11 Shipboard Receiving Terminal

(The effects of any budget/program decisions made since the information was collected during 1997-98 are NOT reflected in the National Security Space Road Map (NSSRM).)

Overview: (U)
(U)  The AN/SMQ-11 Shipboard Receiving Terminal is a meteorological data terminal developed for naval shipboard use.  This system provides dry-film, photographic quality printouts of data transmitted from DMSP satellites, TIROS-N, and GOES Weather Facsimile (WEFAX). 

Description: (U)
(U)  The AN/SMQ-11 system provides the Navy with secure, high-resolution, direct readout of visual and infrared imagery within 3 minutes of receipt from the spacecraft for use in tactical air support, anti-submarine warfare, and general weather information.   

(U)  The first 24 AN/SMQ-11 systems employ a dual UHF planar-array antenna subsystem mounted on a single pedestal. One of the two arrays is used to receive data from DMSP satellites and the second is used to receive data from TIROS-N or GOES-WEFAX satellites, although not concurrently. System serial number 25 and all later systems employ a single UHF planar-array antenna subsystem mounted on a single pedestal. Antenna control provides stable, programmed tracking of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites through Sea State 5. Pedestal-mounted down-converters convert the received DMSP or TIROS-N/GOES satellites frequencies to 137 MHz for transmission to a Receiver-Demodulator in the Processing Subsystem. The Receiver-Demodulator processes and amplifies the signal before passing it on to the Data Formatter, where the data is routed through a decryptor and then enhanced and formatted for transmission to the Facsimile Reproducer. The Facsimile Reproducer produces black-and-white weather images from the data. The AN/SMQ-11 also allows analog tape recordings to be made of the satellite data for archival purposes.

User Impact: (U)
(U)  The system provides the Navy with secure, high-resolution, direct readout of visual and infrared imagery within 3 minutes of receipt from the spacecraft for use in tactical air support, anti-submarine warfare, and general weather information.

Programmatics: (U)
(U) Operational.

Related Initiatives: (U)
(U) DMSP, GEOSAT, GOES, Mark IV, Mark IV-B, STT

Related Requirements: (U)
(U) None.

Related Categories: (U)
(U) User Equipment

Road Map Placements: (U)
(U) ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING.

Lead Office: (U)
(U) Navy.

Date of Information: (U)
01 November 1997

(The effects of any budget/program decisions made since the information was collected during 1997-98 are NOT reflected in the National Security Space Road Map (NSSRM).)