Inmarsat extends the
capabilities of
emergency services
communications
30 June 2014
Inmarsat and Spectra
Group UK, announced
the launch of L-TAC
VHF for civil
government.
This new service
will significantly
extend the range and
capabilities of VHF
radios used by the
emergency services
and enable full
interoperability
between civilian and
defence forces
radios – crucial
during major
incidents or civil
emergencies.
Introduced only last
year, Inmarsat’s
L-TAC service is
already in use by
defence forces
around the world. It
provides a low cost
Tactical UHF
Satellite (TACSAT)
capability, which
greatly extends the
range of UHF
tactical radios by
linking them via
Inmarsat’s global
satellite
constellation into a
seamless, secure
network.
Utilising the unique
Spectra Slingshot
adapter kit, created
exclusively for use
over the Inmarsat
satellite network,
defence departments
and now civil
government customers
can rapidly convert
existing radios to
access the L-TAC
network through the
simple addition of a
small converter and
antenna.
Previously, the
benefits of military
grade communications
technology, such as
L-TAC, have not been
available to
civilian customers.
To support the
crucial work of the
emergency services
and other civilian
government
departments,
Inmarsat has
introduced a VHF
Simplex versions of
the Slingshot
adapter kit. This
extends the L-TAC
service into a new
frequency band, one
that is utilised by
an extensive number
of end-user radios
worldwide.
There are now two
Slingshot VHF
variants available;
one operating at 58
to 88MHz, which is a
military band, and
the new civil
version, operating
at 144 to 174MHz,
which is a
commercial band.
The Slingshot
products and their
interface with the
Inmarsat L-TAC
network have been
designed so that
both VHF variants
and the original UHF
Slingshot can all be
used within a single
L-TAC network, thus
allowing full
interoperability
between the radios.
“In a disaster
scenario, our new
civilian L-TAC
service would enable
normally disparate
teams such as
military, police and
civil agencies to
work more closely
together,” said Andy
Start, President,
Inmarsat Global
Government.
“While they may all
be using different
radio types and
frequency bands with
L-TAC they can
interconnect with
each other without
the current need for
a retransmission
facility.”
For regular VHF
users, L-TAC offers
a fast to deploy and
cost effective
capability for
extending
terrestrial
coverage, either in
remote terrains
where there is no
local VHF repeater
or where natural or
criminal action has
destroyed the
repeater. Border
protection,
combating terrorism
or drug cartels are
typical operational
applications for
such technology.
Both UHF and VHF
variants of
Slingshot are
available in
vehicular, maritime
and manpack versions
and all can be
combined into a
single L-TAC
network.
