March 22, 2005 – U.S. Army Alaska (USARAK) recently integrated a large scale ASTi Synapse communications system into their Battle Command Training Center (BCTC) at Ft. Richardson. The new system provides the Army with the capability to route voice traffic between live radios operating in the maneuver field and soldiers operating ASTi virtual radio workstations in the BCTC. The ASTi system comprises a series of ASTi Synapse Radio-IP bridges and Synapse Workstations connected to an IP network.

Ft. Richardson’s ASTi equipment provides the capability to link as many as eight (8) live SINCGARS frequency-hopping radio channels to virtual network channels, allowing intercommunication with 40 battlestaff operators. These operator locations are dispersed throughout the BCTC, and include: Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS) workstations, After Action Review auditorium, Tactical Operations Centers, Tech Control Center and the Live Radio-Crypto comms room.

Additional virtual network channels are available for battlestaff point-to-point or workgroup communications. More links can be established with Synapse nodes connected to the wide area network. In the near future, the Army plans to link the Ft. Richardson ASTi communications system with ASTi systems installed at the Ft. Wainwright Mission Support Training Facility (MSTF). This will provide the capability to extend live and simulated radio traffic over 360 miles through a secure network connection.

The Army also installed an ASTi Telestra Remote Management System (RMS) at Ft. Richardson. With Telestra RMS and a standard web browser, system administrators at Ft. Richardson (and in the future, at Ft. Wainwright) can monitor and manage local and networked ASTi resources (equipment, software, models), ranging from stand-alone to multi-site, exercise-wide configurations.

ASTi provided a complete customer support package to Ft. Richardson including: on-site installation and testing services, on-site training courses for system administrators and battlestaff instructors, and a support contract for ongoing phone and email assistance.

ASTi has been shipping Synapse live-to-virtual communications systems since 1999.