Military communications are by nature required to be highly secure and extremely reliable. Therefore very
specialised time codes are necessary to ensure data stability and to provide adequate protection from attempts to intercept data.
Secure communications systems also require an accurate and stable frequency reference to ensure that either
spread-spectrum or
frequency-hopping radio systems e.g. HaveQuick remain locked when used in anti-jam mode. Precise time and frequency standards are required to meet these exacting communication requirements.
The ground segments of space systems use precise time to trigger
mission-critical events, including launch, booster rocket firing and re-entry. Time is also used to tag telemetry data for subsequent analysis.
Similarly, Military and Aerospace
test ranges use time for telemetry data tagging. The profusion of differing types of telemetry equipment and the wide use of legacy systems in this industry means that most ranges use time in a multiplicity of formats, or timecodes.
The
security services also use accurate time, in the form of timecodes, to tag intercepted voice and data traffic. Known colloquially as XR3 and 2137 these timecodes are similar in form to the IRIG and NASA codes but differ in speed and code.
**Download our Military & Aerospace Brochure here.**