(click to view full)
In Afghanistan, most Afghan National Army (ANA) units use either VHF radios that have a maximum range of 40 kilometers or standard cell phones to contact each other. At present, messages are sometimes relayed from operator to operator until they reach their destination, with obvious time and accuracy problems. Tactical communications are critical in a guerilla war, so how does one solve this problem in an environment like Afghanistan?
It’s a problem that isn’t confined to Afghanistan – indeed, it’s present in many US cities among first responders. So what did they do in Afghanistan? Enter Raytheon JPS’ Advanced Control Unit-Tactical, or ACU-T.
As DefenseLINK notes, ACU-T is designed to serve as a bridge and allow communications between ANA units with incompatible radio systems. Using this new system, VHF, HF, cellular and landline phones and radios can all communicate with each other. Employing technology derived from the ACU-1000, the lightweight, tactical ACU-T is suitable for LMR, P25, TETRA, HF Radio, trunking systems, Nextel, telephones and SATCOM systems.
How does it work? Imagine that an ACU-T operator in a regional command center receives a call from an ANA unit or base using a VHF radio. They’re asking to contact the National Military Command Center (NMCC) in Kabul, which uses an HF radio system. The operator simply connects the two systems using a computer interface on the ACU-T, and the two users are now able to communicate and pass information as if they were using the same system or radio type. Range limitations, which previously required relaying beyond 250 kilometers, are removed.
Two of 13 planned ACU-T installations are complete – one at the NMCC in Kabul and the other at the 201st Corps Regional Command Center in Pol-e-Charkhi. The installations and training are completed by a combined team of ANA and U.S. military members.
“The ANA soldiers have really picked up on this training very quickly, and I suspect that they will be in complete control of the installation and training of these units before too much longer,” said Lt. Col. Jose Rodriguez, chief of the Defense Reform Directorate’s communications section of the Office of Security Cooperation Afghanistan.
ACU-T systems fall into the under $10,000 cost category. See also this article about ACU-T’s employment by the New York Police Department (NYPD).