Comtech has delivered over 200,000 Blue Force Tracking (BFT) terminals for use on land, sea and air platforms. These terminals have been critical in driving down fratricide rates in the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq in comparison to the first Iraq war. They have proved to be a critical form of communication when Line of Sight (LOS) voice and data are not available due to terrain or distance conditions. Their role was especially critical in low visibility/high RF interference events like sandstorms in Iraq since the BFT terminals enabled soldiers to keep track of each other even though they were out of visual contact.
Comtech’s latest production transceiver, the MT-2025 was tested in Australia in the Spring of 2019. Comtech’s BFT system delivered consistent position reports in the face of a variety of test conditions.
Since the early days of BFT, Comtech has continued to improve BFT technology with state-of-the-art innovations. The most recent Comtech innovations were accomplished with Rapid Innovation Funding from the US Army. The first innovation Comtech delivered was BFT Antenna Nulling, which creates antenna nulls in the direction of interference, greatly reducing the amount of interfering energy that makes it to the receiver. This bi-directional Antenna Nulling also greatly reduces the amount of RF energy the BFT transceiver emits in the direction of the interference source.
Comtech has also recently delivered BFT transceivers that employ Dual Mode technology, which smartly routes BFT data over Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO-Inmarsat) or Low Earth Orbit (LEO-Iridium) satellites. This path diversity greatly improves data delivery under the most demanding circumstances. The Iridium pathway also provides true global coverage, including the poles.
For more information on Comtech capabilities, contact Maser Defence at defence@maser.com.au