Have Quick (alsoHAVEQUICK, shortHQ) is anECM-resistantfrequency-hopping system used to protect militaryaeronautical mobile (OR) radio traffic.
Since the end ofWorld War II, U.S. and Allied military aircraft have used AM radios in theNATO harmonised 225–400 MHz UHF band (part ofNATOB band[1]) for short range air-to-air and ground-to-air communications. During development and the procurement of UHF radios, military planners did not require features to secure communications foraircraft andhelicopters from jamming until the post-Vietnam War era. Progress in electronics in the 1970s reached a point where anyone with an inexpensive radio frequency scanner or receiver set could intercept military communications. Once the target frequencies were identified, radio frequencyjamming could easily be employed to degrade or completely disable communications.
The Have Quick program was a response to this problem. Engineers recognized that newer aircraft radios already included all-channelfrequency synthesizers along with keyboards and displays for data entry. The only other system requirements to achieve the desiredanti-jam functionality were an accurate clock (for timed synchronization) and amicroprocessor to addfrequency hopping to existing radios.
Aircraft and ground radios that employ HAVE QUICK must be initialized with accuratetime of day (TOD; usually from aGPS receiver), aword of the day (WOD), and a net identifier (providing mode selection and multiple networks to use the same word of the day). A word of the day is atransmission security variable that consists of six segments of six digits each. The word of the day is loaded into the radio or its control unit to key the HAVE QUICK system to the proper hopping pattern, rate, and dwell time.[2] The word of the day, time of day and net identifier are input to acryptographic pseudorandom number generator that controls the frequency changes.
HAVE QUICK is not anencryption system, though many HAVE QUICK radios can be used with encryption; e.g. the KY-58VINSON system. HAVE QUICK is not compatible withSINCGARS, the VHF - FM radios used by ground forces, which operate in a different radio band and use a different frequency hopping method; however some newer radios support both.
HAVE QUICK was well adopted, and as of 2007 is used on nearly all U.S. military and NATO aircraft. Improvements include HAVE QUICK II Phase 2, and a "Second generation Anti-Jam Tactical UHF Radio forNATO" calledSATURN.[3] The latter features more complex frequency hopping.