Airborne Systems announces successful airdrop of SENTRy radio

Posted: Aug. 17, 2011

Airborne Systems, a subsidiary of HDT Global ("HDT") - leading provider of highly-engineered mobile military and emergency response solutions, including military parachutes and aerial delivery systems - and GPS Source, Inc., an expert in Radio Frequency (RF) technology and an integrator of military grade airworthy hardware, today announced the first successful airdrop flight tests of the SENTRy radio. This flight test is the culmination of a collaborative effort between these two organizations to overcome the multifaceted network communication issues often experienced with military precision airdrop missions.

The legacy of fragmented and unsecured wireless networks typically used by precision aerial delivery platforms spurred the partnership between the two companies to develop SUNPAADS, with the SENTRy radio at its core. As a single, secure network for all airborne and aerial delivery elements of a precision airdrop mission, SUNPAADS is designed to provide communication between air and ground assets up to 40 kilometers away.

"The SUNPAADS capability will significantly improve situational awareness during the execution of all types of precision airborne and aerial delivery missions," said JC Berland, Airborne Systems Chief Technical Officer. "Airdrop of the SENTRy radio is a key milestone in our development of the SUNPAADS network and integration into our mission planning system, parachutist navigation aid (NAVAID), and family of GPADS products. The new capabilities SUNPAADS will provide to aircrew, airborne operators, and receiving units will significantly enhance their operational experience (jumper and GPADS collision avoidance, drop zone assembly and airdrop mission strike reporting) providing secure, reliable, and seamless technology. This is truly the next generation of precision airdrop technology."

The SUNPAADS network has been created as an open development platform. The primary advantage of this platform is the ability for third parties to develop precision airborne or aerial delivery equipment that can incorporate the SENTRy radio module and communicate on the SUNPAADS network. Development kits and interface documentation will be available in the first quarter of 2012.

Source: Shephard