Designed for SOF, Now Ready to Transform Wider Capabilities

At AUSA 2022 today, Spectra Group is announcing that over 4,000 SlingShot satcom systems are now in service with US special operations forces (SOF). Globally, there are more than 7,000 in operation with both special and regular forces.

Small and lightweight, SlingShot has proven to be immensely popular with US SOF and the intelligence community since its launch in 2014. Originally designed for specialist forces, Spectra is now poised to help the US military leverage all the system’s key advantages, to transform regular forces’ tactical communications capabilities on land, at sea and in the air. Slingshot is perfect for missions featuring minimal logistical support, in remote locations or with limited transport capacity.   By integrating SlingShot with Inmarsat’s L-TAC satellite service, combined with an in-service VHF or UHF radio, deployed troops instantly gain strategic communications, over thousands of miles, that would otherwise not be available without a significant communications infrastructure. In addition to the robust beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) voice capability, SlingShot also has sufficient bandwidth to carry critical data to support essential applications, such as: situational awareness tools; GPS tracking; reporting and other data messaging, without no requirement for ground-based line-of-sight re-broadcasting architecture.  Finally, the Slingshot omni-directional antennas provide manpack, land, sea and air platforms with real-time communications-on-the-move (COTM), rather than having to be static, as experienced with traditional TACSAT systems.

CEO Simon Davies observed that SlingShot has been successful “… in solving the communications challenges faced by both specialist and regular forces when deployed all over the world in austere locations […] In Europe, SlingShot is now proving to be a battle-winning capability for regular forces and part of its success is the fact it is genuinely ‘plug and play,’ converting any in-service tactical radio system into a BLOS and COTM satellite communications system with minimal training.”