On 11th September, Barrett Communications announced that it had worked with Thales to secure interoperability between the latter company's SOTAS vehicle intercom system and Barrett Tactical Communications radios which equip the Republic of Fiji's Military Force's Thales BUSHMASTER four-wheel drive armoured vehicles. This year, Fiji purchased ten of these vehicles from Australia which.had been operated by that country's army. Seven of the vehicles, according to open sources, are currently serving with the Fijian contribution to the United Nations' Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria, the balance of three vehicles remain in Fiji and are used for training. A Barrett press release announcing the news stated that all the Bushmasters are equipped with the company's PRC-2090 High Frequency (HF: three megahertz/MHz to 30MHz) and PRC-2080 Very High Frequency (VHF: 30MHz to 300MHz) tactical radios. These radios were in turn connected to the SOTAS system by Thales and Barrett personnel, with training for the Fijian military also provided by both firms. The addition of the radios, and the intercom, will significantly improve the networking of the vehicles, providing beyond Line-of-Sight (LOS) communications using the PRC-2090 radio, and LOS communications between vehicles using the PRC-2080.
展开▼
