Saab Grintek to provide South African Navy with Tacticall

Saab´s local South African Defence and security company, Saab Grintek Defence has been awarded a contract by Armscor Institute Maritime Technology, for a TactiCall Integrated Communications System, which will be used to enhance the existing communications network at the Navy’s Silvermine Maritime Domain Awareness Centre. The contract, was signed as a result of a live demonstration during a recent joint exercise and a close working relationship between the South African Navy and Saab.

TactiCall, which will be installed at Silvermine, connects different communication technologies regardless of radio band, frequency and hardware, enhancing efficiency, overview and increasing operations tempo. The current system being installed can be further developed into a much more advanced TactiCall solution.

A more advanced system will connect personnel across all communication media, including radios – Tetra, HF, VHF and UHF and phones, and creates a central control point for public address and general alarm, closed-circuit TV, video conferencing and non-directional beacons.

The system connects all communication elements through a single IP network, creating TactiCall Nets, virtual talk groups with unlimited users to ensure efficient communication at all times. The central user interface supports a broad range of push-to-talk and audio devices, meaning that new clients can still use their existing infrastructure, avoiding many costs traditionally associated with migrating to a new system.

TactiCall is managed via the Operator Control Panel, with a web-based application enabling the operator to manage the system via the internet. It supports user tasks by providing the operator with feature short cuts, and is also priority-based, so filters out functionality not needed at any particular time. In the future the solution could be upgraded to also include key features imperative to military operations, including secure voice separation with multiple levels of security.

“The TactiCall system makes communication easier, more efficient and is platform-agnostic, ensuring that no vessel or station will ever be out of contact with other sites,” says Hein van den Ende, Saab Marketing Executive, Maritime for Sub-Saharan Africa at Saab. “The system integrates a multitude of different frequency bands, networks and radio equipment into one central user interface solution that makes communication easy, secure and seamless.”

“Our vision is to see all Maritime Domain Awareness Centres along the Sub-Saharan coastline connected with TactiCall. This will enable task- coalition and special force operations, military arms, air force, marine detachments and even civil and NGO agencies to communicate effectively with each other to keep the continent’s coastlines safe,” says van den Ende.

Previously, Saab Grintek Defence and African Equity Empowerment Investments signed an agreement under which AEEI becomes a partner in Saab Grintek Defence. AEEI previously held a 5% investment in the holding company Saab SA but now strengthens its partnership by acquiring just over 25% of the operational company Saab Grintek Defence.

Saab Grintek Defence has reinforced its position as a leading South African defence and security company, bringing capabilities including electronic warfare systems, sensor technology, command and control, training systems, avionics, security and support solutions to the African and international markets.

As the export market represents almost 75% of the South African company’s total turnover, Saab Grintek Defence was awarded the Best Exporter Award by the South African Premier Business Awards in both 2013 and 2014.

Saab provides a range of world-leading products services and solutions within military defence and civil security to Sub-Saharan and South African market. A range of defence forces across the globe are using South African electronic warfare and avionics technology being designed and produced at Saab Grintek Defence facilities in South Africa. Saab also has business units and local employees in Cape Town, South Africa, in Gaborone, Botswana and in Nairobi, Kenya.