Recent operations have underlined continually the necessity for modern land forces to be equipped with reliable communication systems. Since its adoption by the Belgian army at the beginning of 1993, the BAMS frequency-hopping VHF transceiver has proven its high performance, ease of operation and superior reliability during operations such as the Belgian participation in UN peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, as well as during several field tests organised by interested armies in Europe, the Middle East and far-east countries.
| The five Watt Manpack/Vehicular Radio, basic version |
The BAMS transceiver was the result of close co-operation between the industry and the user through all phases of its realisation. The involvement of both parties in field tests for foreign customers has enabled BAMS to improve its functional and operational characteristics. Using state-of-the-art technology and equipped with features such as TDMA and GPS, the radio enables a modern army to tackle the most complex threats that can be encountered on any battlefield.
The BAMS transceiver is available in either a five-watt manpack/vehicular configuration or a 50-watt vehicular configuration. These differ in RF output stage and power supply input only.
The five-watt manpack can be converted easily to a vehicular configuration simply by replacing the battery pack with a vehicular power adaptor, allowing operation from a 12-volt or 24-volt vehicle battery.
| The first generation 50 Watt Vehicular Radio; right, the new version |
If there is a need for more power, conversion from the five-watt to the 50-watt vehicular version is accomplished simply by replacing the top cover with the power amplifier unit, without the need for additional external cabling. The conversion is so compact that the space required for an AN/RC-77 station is sufficient to house two 50-watt transceivers a full double station. Depending on operational requirements, collocation filters can be inserted into the power amplifier unit. These filters can be switched on and off by means of the control display.
The BAMS transceiver operates between 30MHz and 108MHz with a channel spacing of 25kHz in all modes, fixed frequency, frequency hopping and free channel selection. A 12.5kHz and 6.25kHz offset capability is foreseen in fixed frequency modes.
TRANSEC is achieved by hopping rates as high as 250 hops per second without any restrictions whatsoever on the use of the 3,120 available frequencies between 30 and 108MHz. Even under severe jamming conditions (more than 60 per cent channels blocked), an extremely powerful forward-error correction (FEC) guarantees successful communications through a unique integrated digital-message terminal. In combination with ruggedised PCs, the BAMS transceivers can provide a highly reliable and very secure way of performing file transfers between computers. The high performance of the applied error-correction techniques ensures error-free data communications under severe jamming conditions and also at the limit of the transmission range.
Built-in COMSEC will safeguard the security of communications. The selective call function enables communication with either one particular member or a specific group of fellow members in the radio net, a feature no other competitor can provide.
Full remote control may be established with or without the hum-free BAMS intercom system that, if applied, ensures high audio quality. However, because a VIC interface also is available, the continued use of this widely spread intercom system is equally possible.
The TDMA option provides a method of operating automatic weapon systems through the BAMS transceiver, for example in the defence of airfields and for battlefield observation.
Another built-in feature is the spectrum scanner that can be used in combination with a frequency management system. With this feature it is possible to detect which frequencies are blocked. Based upon this information, hopsets can be composed containing only unblocked frequencies.
However, when compared to the available competition, the most remarkable feature is the powerful and user-friendly synchronisation system. Once the keys are loaded by key-gun, keyboard or over the air re-keying (OTAR), communication is established simply by activating a transmission. There is no need for any complicated procedure. Synchronisation time is a fraction of a second only and is independent of the radio silence period. Even under the harshest jamming conditions, synchronisation is still possible.
