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Solinnov, a member of the C4 EDGE consortium, tested its new BlueM platform, which is capable of radio frequency signal detection and countermeasure generation.
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South Australian company Solinnov tested its BlueM infrastructureless network last week at a demonstration in Para Hills, where the platform was successfully deployed during a Blue Force Tracking scenario and also was used to geolocate emitters.
The demonstration was attended by an array of stakeholders, including representatives from Army Headquarters (Land C4), the Defence Science and Technology Group, electronic warfare specialists from DEWC as well as partners from the C4 EDGE consortium Shoal Group and Acacia Systems.
According to a release, the BlueM network has streamlined the process for operators to detect RF emissions.
Previously operators would utilise 4G to geolocate emitters, though this process was determined to be limited as 4G is not always available in areas of operations. Rather, the BlueM network is a self-forming mesh of BlueBottle radios.
The radios are integrated with antennae and transmit-receive modules that leverage Solinnov’s Halite orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing waveform. This enables them to create a network in the absence of 4G.
Sanka Piyaratna, chief executive and managing director of Solinnov, explained that the BlueM network is an example of defence professionals thinking “big” and putting Australia on a path to be a world leader for defence technology.
“We built the prototype BlueM network with help from the C4 EDGE program within the space of a year. We were able to demonstrate the sovereign capability in building such networks from the first principles and in an agile manner. We need to think bigger as a country, we have smart people and a very good education system. If we think big, we can create world-leading Defence technologies for Australia and our allies,” Piyaratna said.
Matt Jones, chief executive for EOS Defence Systems (Australia), reiterated Piyaratna’s comments, noting that the C4 EDGE consortium is developing cutting-edge technologies for Australia’s defence ecosystem.
“Solinnov is one of Australia’s most innovative communications companies. Their ability to design and implement their Halite waveform offering infrastructureless mesh radio communications, dispel the myth that Australian industry does not have the capability to develop sovereign waveforms in this country,” Jones said.
“We expect this technological innovation, successfully demonstrated by Solinnov in SA, to be just the first of many technology spin-offs of the ground-breaking C4 EDGE program, sponsored by the Australian Army.”
Solinnov hopes to keep advancing research in the area to promote Australian resilience to electronic warfare.
The C4 EDGE program is a consortium of 20 Australian businesses sponsored by the Australian Army to develop local C4 industry capabilities.
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