General Dynamics UK and Bubblephone demonstrate transformational networking technology on Bowman

C-THRU maintains solid connections in conditions where communication impossible, offering potential to save lives and cut costs.

LONDON, United Kingdom - General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited and Bubblephone Ltd have demonstrated to senior MoD officials the innovative C-THRU network optimisation software running on the Bowman military communications network.

The C-THRU software plug-in overcomes many of the operational obstacles and technical issues encountered with modern tactical communications networks. Dropped into a network, C-THRU establishes network connections and maintains them irrespective of changes in the network environment. It does this by constantly being aware of the network environment and intelligently ‘adapting’ itself to keep open the best connection. For example, if a wireless connection is lost due to mountainous terrain, C-THRU will seamlessly failover to a different network type or connection method. It also prioritises traffic so that urgent communications always get through.

“Put simply, C-THRU will keep the connection open where without it the connection may simply drop,” said Sean Curtis-Ward, CEO of Bubblephone. “This presents a huge tactical advantage.”

C-THRU also enables traffic to be prioritised over different network types according to pre-set rules; for example saving on costly satellite links for non-priority traffic. Also, by being  network-,  protocol- and operating system-agnostic, C-THRU can connect different networks – even those that were not designed to be compatible. This means military personnel from different coalition forces, using different networks that were once incompatible, can now communicate with each other.

The demonstration on ‘green kit’ was undertaken at the EDGE™ UK demonstration suite at General Dynamics UK’s facility in South Wales. Three weeks earlier, Bubblephone demonstrated to MoD officials the first integration of C-THRU running on a test network as part of the final phase of a MoD Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) project.

Following the CDE demonstration, Bubblephone’s engineers integrated C-THRU rapidly into a subset of the Bowman communications system – to prove that the plug-in technology works seamlessly.

“The EDGE™ UK enables SMEs to gain a competitive edge in rapidly developing their innovations into capability that can be quickly fielded,” said Dr Jeremy Creasey, Technical Director at General Dynamics UK.  “Since its last demonstration, C-THRU has advanced its technology readiness level.  With the right commitment and backing, Bubblephone will deliver a world-beating network technology to the MoD that will give the UK a huge technological advantage in tactical military communications. Most importantly, in the field, this will translate into saving lives and cutting costs.”