Spectra Group (UK) Ltd has brought out new features with its SlingShot product. Pictured is the new Test Loop Translator which allows full system testing without a live satellite channel. The firm offers secure voice, data and satellite communications also to special forces and aid and emergency workers, and the commercial sector.
SlingShot converts in-service VHF and UHF tactical radios to L-Band for Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) Communications on the Move (COTM), using Inmarsat’s L-TAC satellite service. With the ability to extend the secure net over thousands of miles, to connect dismounted, mounted and air and seaborne people to each other and to HQ, the product has new power options and an L-Band Satellite emulator for full offline system testing without a live satellite channel.
A new universal power supply – UPSU – streamlines the system, the makers say; also there’s troubleshooting light reporting and now available an AA battery cassette to power a full manpack system.
Simon Davies, CEO of Spectra Group (UK) Ltd, said: “New power options for SlingShot deliver increased flexibility and even simpler configuration. The unique system for BLOS (Beyond Line of Sight) COTM (Communications on the Move) for in-service tactical radios now makes deployment-planning and set-up even easier. As the nature of conflict changes and high-tempo, short duration, deployments become the norm, we know the onus is on us to ensure all our systems are designed for ease of use and reliability, and ideally suited to the fast-moving modern battlefield.”
The new SlingShot TLT is an programmable test tool, designed to allow a complete SlingShot system to be operated and tested as if it was being used operationally.
The TLT simulates the way in which the satellites that SlingShot uses work, so that equipment can be tested before or after field deployments. It can also be used as a training aid, so that classroom training can be performed with realistic service, allowing the user to set up without the need to disturb operational networks, the product company says. The system can be configured to provide perfect channels or add noise to simulate operating at edge-of-beam, allowing the trainer to simulate real-time issues the user might come across whilst deployed operationally.
Around 2000 SlingShot units have been sold since its launch in 2013. Visit www.spectra-group.co.uk.
