Thrane
&
Thrane
Solution
Installed
Aboard
Australian
Fire-Spotting
Aircraft
4
May
2010
Thrane
&
Thrane
has
unveiled
that
its
AVIATOR
300
SwiftBroadband
solution
is
being
used
by
the
Victoria's
State
Aircraft
Unit
(SAU)
to
provide
critical
real-time
data
links
between
fire-spotting
aircraft
and
incident
control
centres
on
the
ground.
Since
the
installation
of
AVIATOR
300
aboard
the
Victoria
SAU
aircraft
at
the
end
of
2009,
the
organization
has
experienced
a
significant
increase
in
the
amount
of
data
and
the
speed
in
which
data
can
be
transmitted
to
incident
control
centres,
which
directly
affects
how
quickly
the
fire
can
be
controlled,
minimising
the
impact
to
human
life.
Adam
Damen,
Technical
Systems
Specialist
SAU
comments,
"For
us,
the
installation
of
this
solution
means
providing
regular
real-time
snapshots
of a
fire
zone,
regardless
of
how
remote
the
location.
We
recently
sent
one
of
our
planes
to
Tasmania
to
assist
with
a
small
bushfire
north
west
of
Hobart.
We
were
able
to
fly
down,
transmit
the
data
and
fly
back
to
the
mainland
without
having
to
land
the
plane,
a
huge
success
in
terms
of
the
cost
of
the
mission
and
the
capability
provided."
The
initial
installation
was
carried
out
by
Thrane
&
Thrane's
Australian
partner,
TC
Communications
in
December
last
year.
As
part
of
the
installation
AVIATOR
was
integrated
aboard
SAU's
'Super
King
Air
B200'.
In
February
2010,
the
solution
was
installed
aboard
a
second
SAU
aircraft,
'Cessna
404
Titan'.
"The
Thrane
&
Thrane
AVIATOR
300
terminal
is
approximately
half
the
size
and
weight
of
traditional
satellite
communications
systems.
This
offers
small-to-mid
size
aircraft
access
to
the
type
of
technology
which
was
previously
unavailable
due
to
the
size
of
the
traditional
platforms,"
comments
Todd
McDonell,
CEO,
TC
Communications.
"The
recent
advances
in
technology
allow
us
to
offer
satellite
communications
capabilities
to a
much
broader
market.
The
potential
for
productivity
and
economy
of
the
SAU
aircraft
has
improved
significantly
with
installation
of
AVIATOR
300
(Aero
SB
Lite)
SwiftBroadband."
Kim
Gram,
Vice
President,
Aeronautical
Business
Unit,
Thrane
&
Thrane,
adds,
"Exceptionally
compact
and
lightweight,
the
AVIATOR
300
is
suitable
for
an
extensive
range
of
applications
within
business,
government
and
military
aviation.
Its
application
aboard
Victoria's
SAU
aircraft
reinforces
the
system's
versatility
and
its
capability
to
bring
high-speed
bandwidth
and
cost-effective
operation
to
the
broadest
range
of
aircraft
possible."
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