Inmarsat L-TAC VHF TACSAT

Inmarsat and Spectra Group UK have launched L-TAC VHF for civil government. The service will significantly extend the range and capabilities of VHF radios used by the emergency services and enable full interoperability between civilian and defence forces radios.

Introduced last year, Inmarsat’s L-TAC service is already in use by defence forces around the world. It provides a low-cost Tactical UHF Satellite (TACSAT) capability, which greatly extends the range of UHF tactical radios by linking them via Inmarsat’s satellite constellation.

Utilising the Spectra Slingshot adapter kit, developed for use over the Inmarsat satellite network, defence departments and civil government customers can rapidly convert existing radios to access the L-TAC network through the addition of a small converter and antenna.

Previously, the benefits of military-grade communications technology, such as L-TAC, have not been available to civilian customers. To support civil government agencies, Inmarsat has introduced a VHF Simplex version of Slingshot, with two variants available: 58 to 88 MHz (military band) and a civil version at 144 to 174 MHz.

For regular VHF users, L-TAC offers a fast-to-deploy and cost-effective capability for extending terrestrial coverage, either in remote terrains where there is no local VHF repeater or where natural or criminal action has destroyed the repeater. Both UHF and VHF variants of Slingshot are available in vehicular, maritime and manpack versions and all can be combined into a single L-TAC network.