The RO Tactical Radio uses the Distributed Tactical Communications System (DTCS) provided by the AFSF Enhanced Mobile Satellite Service (EMSS) office. Its design is simple for operators to use and is similar to a secure “walkie-talkie” in that it does not require ground infrastructure. The talker can reach thousands of other RO Tactical Radios within a 100-250 mile range anywhere in the world with line-of-site to the sky.

Communication occurs over a distribution of secure nets. Each radio may be a registered member of up to ten nets. Secure voice communication is available to any registered RO Tactical Radio in the net that is also within the 100-250 mile range of the talker. The talker selects the net using the band knob and secure voice communications occur when a talker joins the selected net via the Push-to-Talk (PTT) button. Pressing the PTT button establishes a control and broadcast channel for the selected net. The channel setup occurs and crystal clear voice communications can be heard in less than two seconds from PTT and is indicated by a single audible tone. The call is ended and channel resources are released when the PTT button is released. Three short tones indicate the end of the transmission. Secondary nets may be monitored simultaneously while maintaining the ability to talk on a selected net.

Equipped with an embedded GPS receiver each radio transmits and receives voice and GPS over a single antenna. Encrypted PLI is transmitted with flexible configurable options to meet operational requirements PLI can be sent upon release of the PTT as well as configured for time interval (e.g. every five minutes) or movement intervals (e.g. one kilometer). These settings are available for two types of PLI transmissions: global PLI and regional PLI. The global PLI type transmits the PLI data from anywhere in the world securely over the satellite constellation to the DoD gateway. The encrypted data is then sent from the DoD gateway to the mission management center (MMC) and into a format compatible with the Global Command and Control System (GCCS).

Regional PLI is transmitted and may be collected locally with a RO tactical radio configured to operate in data collector mode. This feature provides local personnel awareness of friendly force positions within the operating range and enables the radio to initiate and receive voice communications. The collector also receives PLI data from other RO tactical radios on the nets it is monitoring and is registered to. RO tactical radio registration includes net assignments, encryption keys and PLI settings and data collector operation is managed by a DTCS Net Manager.