Digital Angel Corporation has announced that its OuterLink subsidiary has won a $3.2 million contract from the South Carolina Army National Guard. This pilot program will evaluate the OuterLink system with regard to the National Guard's and the Department of Homeland Security operational requirements for secure communications and real-time management of mobile assets. The program is expected to demonstrate the capability of OuterLink's satellite-based automatic flight following system to communicate with helicopter and ground vehicle fleets at the McEntire National Guard Base at Eastover, South Carolina.

A key component of the program will apply the OuterLink system's secure wireless data communications to demonstrate seamless interoperability with existing communications equipment of the Department of Homeland Security and other federal or state public safety agencies, according to OuterLink president Paul F. Newcomb.

The contract calls for OuterLink to deliver their automatic flight following system; integrate it into existing National Guard equipment including helicopter and ground-based vehicle operations, test it and provide logistical support.

The system was designed to answer a critical communications need: Providing reliable communications in any condition and particularly when helicopters and other aircraft are operating beyond radio coverage and at low altitudes that are well below existing radar coverage. Newcomb said that the value of the OuterLink communications system is proven on a daily basis in the Gulf of Mexico where approximately 650 to 700 helicopters operate up to 9000 air taxi flights a day between the coast and offshore oil drilling platforms that are now up to 200 miles offshore. OuterLink's in-flight reporting system monitors and tracks aircraft to ensure safety while in flight.

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