During the SOCOM TE event on the Patuxent River in Maryland, the BATS team elected to demonstrate their high throughput, long range wireless tracking platform. Ideal for small, fast, vessels with mounting height challenges, the platform, based on BATS’ integrated point-to-point FAST system with MIMO radio was tested at speeds nearing 40 knots, and distances up to 16km.

The FAST system was placed at a 2 meter high-point on a rigid hulled inflatable boat – or RHIB – while a basestation, featuring another integrated FAST system was placed 3 meters a top BATS’ network van. Lack of heights between both areas represented a near direct line of sight. Desipte the challenge of minimal mounting height leading to potential multipath issues over water, the FAST platform performed better than expected, with speed of up to 1.2 Gigabits per second at 2 kilometers range.

Extended range high-speed testing was capable of delivering nearly 100 megabits per second at 15 kilometers.
The test was successful in proving BATS outstanding performance in challenging environments with very small operational envelopes, and is ideal for wireless communications on small or unmanned vessels.