Innovative broadband communications for smaller aircraft announced
Leading satellite communications equipment manufacturer Thrane & Thrane kicks-off a revolution in airborne communications for small aircraft with the announcement of AVIATOR® 200. The latest addition to Thrane & Thrane’s cutting-edge portfolio is designed in accordance with Inmarsat’s recently announced SwiftBroadband 200 service. Through utilizing a combination of proven avionics and antenna technologies AVIATOR 200 provides an exceptionally compact, lightweight system that offers reliable, affordable connectivity to the broadest range of aircraft possible. First customer shipment of the Thrane & Thrane AVIATOR 200 is expected for August 2010.
Thrane & Thrane’s launch of the AVIATOR 300/350 (previously Aero-SB Lite) in mid-2009 confirmed the company’s position at the forefront of innovation and technological development by dramatically decreasing the size and weight of the avionics required to utilize Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband service. AVIATOR 200 is continuing this trend by decreasing the antenna size, thereby again decreasing the overall system size and weight as well as the cost and complexity of aircraft modifications while maintaining a high level of service for the end user. This has been achieved by using the same avionics as Aero-SB Lite and re-using a small jet blade antenna which has been used for more than 15 years.
Thrane & Thrane’s innovative AVIATOR 200 simultaneously provides data speeds up to 200 Kbps and a single AMBE 2 channel for voice calls, providing smaller aircraft with a complete airborne communications solution where this was not achievable before. These data and voice services can be accessed via wired or wireless connections built into the AVIATOR 200, alleviating the need for external wired and wireless routers. AVIATOR 200 will introduce in-flight broadband communication to an entirely new segment of users, providing airborne connectivity for business, military and government users, particularly where weight and space may be particularly critical considerations.
“With the launch of AVIATOR 200, a whole new group of users can harness the power of SwiftBroadband,” said Lars Thrane, Founder of Thrane & Thrane. “In the General Aviation market this product will be of interest from light jets to turboprop aircraft, particularly with users of Wi-Fi enabled PDA devices including Blackberry, iPhone and iPad. In military and government markets operators of the ever smaller aircraft and UAV’s used for surveillance missions will benefit as well.
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