Mobile Subscriber Equipment

{{Infobox military gear

| name = Mobile Subscriber Equipment

| image = File:Mobile Subscriber Equipment antenna trucks in the Iraqi desert during Operation Desert Storm, photo credit U.S. Army.png

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| caption = Mobile Subscriber Equipment antenna trucks in use during Operation Desert Storm

| type = Secure multichannel digital communications system

| origin = United States

| service = United States Army

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| wars = {{ubl|Gulf War|Kosovo War|Iraq War}}

| designer = U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM){{r|Cellular_Communications}}{{r|GD_GTE}}

| design_date = {{date|1979-10}} {{mdash}} {{date|1983-09}}{{r|FAS_MSE}}

| manufacturer = GTE Government Systems{{r|Raines_1996|p=393}}

| unit_cost = Over {{US$|4.3}}{{nbsp}}billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|4.3|1985|r=3}}{{nbsp}}billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}){{r|Raines_1996|p=393}}{{r|Resnick_1993|p=1}} (Project total)

| production_date = 19 December 1985{{r|Resnick_1993|p=1}} {{mdash}} {{date|1993-07}}{{r|FAS_MSE}}

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}}

The Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) system was a tactical communication system created by GTE{{nbsp}}Government{{nbsp}}Systems{{r|Raines_1996|p=393}} (later acquired by General Dynamics) for the United States Army.{{r|GD_GTE}}{{r|FM_11-55}} Acquisition began in 1985 for echelons below Corps and down to the battalion level.{{r|USASS_MSE}} The system was first fielded in February 1988 to the 13th Signal Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.{{r|Cellular_Communications}}{{r|Raines_1996|p=395}}

File:Mobile Subscriber Equipment concept, courtesy of the United States Army.png

The first version included phones for both stationary and portable use, plus fax service.{{r|Cellular_Communications}} When a user placed a call, the MSE software automatically found the destination telephone and connected the call. Tactical Packet Network services were provided by BBN Technologies as a packet-switching overlay to the MSE circuit-switched network; these services added Internet Protocol switching and routing to support end-to-end data communications.{{r|FM_11-55}}

MSE was intended to provide communications support from the Corps' rear boundary to the division's maneuver battalion rear boundary, covering an area of approximately {{convert|37500|km2}}. It consisted of the following major subsystems. The Node Center Switch (NCS) made up the backbone of the MSE system and provided connectivity through the use of extension switches, Large Extension Nodes (LENs), Small Extension Nodes (SENs), and Radio Access Units (RAUs). To communicate with other mobile and wire telephone users throughout the theater, the Radio Access Units allow the Mobile Subscriber Radio Telephone (MSRT) to interface into the MSE system through the NCS, LEN or SEN.{{r|USASS_MSE}}

References

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite report | last1 = Resnick | first1 = Bernard | author-link1 = | date = 1993-09-01 | title = Lessons Learned Working with the Army's Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) Program | url = https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA284295.pdf | format = PDF | location = Fort Belvoir | publisher = Defense Systems Management College | docket = Technical Report, TR 2-94 | access-date = 2022-08-25 | via = Defense Technical Information Center | df = dmy-all}}

{{cite web | url = https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/land/mse.htm | title = Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) | last1 = Pike | first1 = John | author = | author-link = | last2 = Sherman | first2 = Robert | author2 = | author-link2 = | date = 1998-09-12 | website = Federation of American Scientists | language = en | access-date = 2022-08-25 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220602185121/https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/land/mse.htm | archive-date = 2022-06-02 | df = dmy-all}}

{{cite book | last1 = Raines | first1 = Rebecca R. | author-link1 = | date = 1996-06-19 | chapter = CHAPTER XI - Signaling Ahead | chapter-url = https://permanent.fdlp.gov/websites/www.history.army.mil/books/30-17/S_11.htm | title = Getting the Message Through: A Branch History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps | url = https://permanent.fdlp.gov/websites/www.history.army.mil/books/30-17/Front.htm | url-status = live | series = Army Historical Series | language = en-us | edition = 1st | publisher = United States Army Center of Military History | isbn = 978-0160453519 | lccn = 95002393 | oclc = 32093827 | ol = OL34420751M | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220825201501/https://permanent.fdlp.gov/websites/www.history.army.mil/books/30-17/Front.htm | archive-date = 2022-08-25 | access-date = 2022-08-25 | quote = MSE, produced by General Telephone and Electronics (GTE), was a fully automatic, secure radiotelephone switching system that could be used by both mobile and static subscribers. At a cost of over $4 billion, MSE ranked as one of the largest procurement efforts ever undertaken by the Army.| via = | df = dmy-all}}

{{cite book | author = | date = 1999-06-22 | title = FM 11-55: Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) Operations | url = https://www.bits.de/NRANEU/others/amd-us-archive/FM11-55%2899%29.pdf | url-status = live | language = en-us | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190616152418/https://www.bits.de/NRANEU/others/amd-us-archive/FM11-55(99).pdf | archive-date = 2019-06-16 | access-date = 2022-08-19 | via = Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security | df = dmy-all}}

{{cite web | url = https://gdmissionsystems.com/en/articles/2014/12/11/army-innovations-first-cellular-network | title = Army Innovations: The First Cellular Network | last1 = Crosson | first1 = Tom | date = 2014-12-11 | website = General Dynamics Mission Systems | access-date = 2022-08-19 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190616151220/https://gdmissionsystems.com/en/articles/2014/12/11/army-innovations-first-cellular-network | archive-date = 2019-06-16 | quote = In 1985, the Army selected GTE (now General Dynamics) as the prime contractor. | df = dmy-all}}

{{cite web | url = https://cybercoe.army.mil/SIGNALSCH/OCOS/HISTORY/history_mobile_subscriber_equipment.html | date = n.d. | title = Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) | website = US Army Signal School | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190616152455/https://cybercoe.army.mil/SIGNALSCH/OCOS/HISTORY/history_mobile_subscriber_equipment.html | archive-date = 2019-06-16 | access-date = 2022-08-19 | language = en-us | quote = In 1982, the Army embarked on the acquisition of the Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) system to meet the area communications requirement at echelons below Corps and down to the battalion level. MSE was acquired to meet the tactical telephone and switchboard requirements with a smaller more mobile switching capability. | df = dmy-all }}

{{cite web | url = https://www.thenmusa.org/armyinnovations/cellularcommunications/ | date = n.d. | title = Cellular Communications | website = National Museum of the United States Army | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220204221203/https://www.thenmusa.org/armyinnovations/cellularcommunications/ | archive-date = 2022-02-04 | access-date = 2022-08-19 | df = dmy-all}}

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Mobile Subscriber Equipment

See also

References

Further reading