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Boeing Defence Australia has announced a contract to provide the Australian Defence Force with a new lightweight, portable router to transform the deployed communication and connectivity of Australian troops operating in rugged terrain.
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Boeing’s compact Rapid Tactical Router (RAPTR) is one-eighth of the weight of current integrated battlefield telecommunications network (I-BTN) equipment. It also provides a secure network gateway for classified and unclassified domains in a backpack-sized transit case, in order to support deployments with a smaller footprint without compromising connectivity on the battlefield.
Murray Brabrook, Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) director of joint systems, explained the importance of the innovation, saying, “The RAPTR enables the ADF to use the I-BTN in more ways than we initially envisaged. Now just one operator can deploy the technology in less than 10 minutes to gain full connectivity from a transit case that can fit in an overhead locker and be easily incorporated onto aircraft and mounted in vehicles.”
Boeing Defence Australia began conceptualising the RAPTR capability in the early days of Project Currawong, based on user feedback that a more lightweight, portable product would provide much-needed utility for missions where less durability is required.
Tom Minge, BDA battlespace communications system program manager, added, “While it did not fit within the scope of the LAND 2072-2B contract, we have been able to develop the RAPTR through the Capability Enhancement Strategy (CES) – a Commonwealth contract to continue to innovate our battlespace communications technology to meet the emerging needs of the warfighter.”
RAPTR is designed to establish rapid network connections via SATCOM, radio, VOIP phones and public internet that was introduced in the I-BTN for LAND 2072-2B. The technology is optimised for portability and uses standard commercial interfaces such as USB, Ethernet and 4G dongles which provide a lower training burden.
The RAPTR is one of the first major pieces of capability to be developed and introduced under the CES with significant numbers on order by the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force.
RAPTR is designed to host a range of mission system software applications and complements the larger, more robust I-BTN equipment delivered under Project Currawong, which is suited to larger deployments and extreme and remote environmental conditions.
