Communications-technology company Persistent Systems is outfitting the U.S. Air Force’s mobility command with lots of of radios and erectable antennas to soup up logistics in distant environments and disaster-relief operations.
The MPU5 handheld radios furnished under a $5.1 million contract can share voice, video and text, in addition to positioning and sensor data, and the antennas further extend connectivity. The tech is a significant step up from the old “walkie-talkie” radios sometimes present in the sector, the corporate said in a press release.
“Our MPU5s deliver robust, secure, broadband line-of-sight and beyond-line-sight communications, and so they accomplish that without Air Force personnel having to depend on third-party infrastructure, which is vital in a contested environment,” Adrien Robenhymer, Persistent’s vice chairman of business development for Air Force and intelligence community programs, said in a press release.
The equipment will likely be utilized by contingency response groups, which quickly deploy to determine command and control, maintenance and refueling hubs where military infrastructure is otherwise lacking.
Because the Pentagon prepares for potential fights within the Indo-Pacific and Europe, the Air Force is pursuing what’s often known as agile combat employment. The ACE concept envisions a hub-and-spoke layout of bases — some large and glued, others small and mobile — that may scatter supplies and manpower.
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Dated lines of communication could stunt the method.
“Persistent’s [mobile ad hoc networking] products extend the enterprise to the tactical edge and permit full situational awareness even in austere environments,” Robenhymer said.
The Air Force last yr tapped Persistent to offer seamless networking for security operations at three U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile bases.
In that deal, price nearly $76 million, the corporate planned to roll out its Infrastructure-based Regional Operation Network, or IRON, to link patrolling security personnel with faraway operations centers and to maintain an eye fixed out for intruders.
Persistent said some 700 IRON assets could be installed across Malmstrom, Minot and F.E. Warren Air Force bases in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming, respectively.
Colin Demarest is a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covers military networks, cyber and IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a every day newspaper in South Carolina. Colin can be an award-winning photographer.