Nortac has revealed to Armada that it has introduced a Situational Awareness Module for its TITAN BY NORTAC BFT system.
TITAN BY NORTAC carries Blue Force Tracking (BFT) information using compressed Short Burst Data (SBD) across the Iridium satellite communications network, with frequencies of 1.616 gigahertz/GHz to 1.626GHz. It can also use standard cellular networks, wi-fi and High Frequency radios (HF: three megahertz/MHz to 30MHz). The BFT is built around software which the company told Armada “can be deployed on a server directly within an existing network infrastructure behind clients’ firewalls.” This web-based application, which can be used on a tablet or laptop and securely accessed via a standard web browser like Google Chrome, provides a common operating picture depicting the location of friendly troops and vehicles carrying the company’s NORATC WAVE transponders.
NORTAC WAVE Device
Reporting and messaging via encrypted SBD packets over the Iridium satellite network enables the NORTAC WAVE to be globally reliable, even in Beyond Line of Sight environments. Compressed SBD packets are extremely difficult to detect and/or jam. The additional benefit of having Situational Awareness (SA) at the handheld level is a game-changer for response readiness. SA enabled Waves can display the relative location and status of up to 50 other Waves or other integrated devices.
Land vehicles and personnel, naval vessels or helicopters are outfitted with the NORTAC WAVE device and configured to respective reporting needs and alert rules. “All of the NORTAC WAVE devices can report to the platform and communicate with each other and other integrated devices,” Nortac’s statement continued. For example, if a dismounted soldier gets into difficulty, they “may press the emergency alert on their NORTAC WAVE device” or send a message using pre-written or free text message. This will reach the platform and other assets, or groups of assets, where personnel “will immediately be alerted to their status …. Nearest responders from the soldier’s group will also be automatically identified and alerted.”
Enhancements
TITAN BY NORTAC is in service with the Canadian armed forces and several other undisclosed nations. Despite being in service for over ten years, the product continues to evolve: “The Nortac Defence team of engineers are continually working on maintenance and upgrade projects for the platform, keeping it secure and current.” Moreover, they are adept at integrating other manufacturer’s devices into the platform to meet operational requirements, for example a new dual mode vehicle tracker has recently been integrated, and platform, impact and rollover alerts can now be automatically raised.
