German navy adopts Sabtech NTDS networking equipment

German navy officials needed a military shipboard tactical network to deploy as the maritime component of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) international peacekeeping force off the coast of Lebanon. They turned to Sabtech Industries in Yorba Linda, Calif., for its PowerNet Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) Gateway. “The German navy will help on one hand to prevent the smuggling of weapons and on the other will help the Lebanese Army to protect its coast and border,” says Chancellor Merkel of the deployment on the Lebanese coast. The German navy decided in early October to upgrade the ship’s combat system by installing the Multi Ammunition Softkill System (MASS) developed by Rheinmetall Waffe Munition (RWM), a German contractor and the systems integrator for this project. RWM commissioned ESG in Germany as a subcontractor to produce a library based on a data interface layer. MASS is a computerized and trainable naval countermeasure system with ammunition that assures protection in all relevant wavebands (UV, EO, laser, infrared, and radar). The flexibility provided by PowerNet enabled straightforward integration into a legacy combat system, says a company executive. A Sabtech NTDS Isolation Tap Box tapped the legacy combat system data. The PowerNet converted the MIL-STD-1397C data to TCP/IP/UDP for rapid insertion of the MASS Decoy Launching System on board naval vessels that lacked a countermeasures system. Sabtech’s PowerNet NTDS Gateway can link NTDS devices to UNIX- or Windows-based systems over an Ethernet LAN, sending real-time NTDS data to systems not directly connected to NTDS I/O channels. The PowerNet server runs the NTDS operations with a real-time executive able to handle demanding NTDS requirements. PowerNet’s Application Programming Interface (API) library, when combined with C and C++ custom applications, provides a set of powerful, efficient functions that make it easy for users to get the system online fast. The rapid COTS insertion of PowerNet NTDS Gateways enabled the German navy to better safeguard their ship and crew for operations in hostile waters, according to a representative. For more information, visit Sabtech Industries online at www.sabtech.com.