Nexor Vanguard leads the way in taking military messaging to the Battlespace

Nexor, a provider of high assurance messaging and directory services to the military, announces the release of Nexor Vanguard, a tactical messaging gateway that conforms to the NATO STANAG 4406 Annex E Standard.

For the first time in the UK, Nexor Vanguard showed STANAG 4406 Annex E in action at the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) in June 2005 on behalf of the UK MoD and NATO. The first implementation of the system is due this month.

Recent times have seen a significant increase in 'out-of-area' military operations. Most of these operations are of a tactical nature, characterised by a requirement for mobility, coupled with the lack of a strategic communications infrastructure. Consequently, many armed forces are now considering tactical messaging as the next step in the development of their communications systems.

STANAG 4406 Annex E is a draft standard that describes a tactical protocol to be used for the interconnection of Military Message Handling Systems (MMHS) over networks with reduced throughput capacity. The Annex identifies a set of interoperability protocols that cover all of the identified tactical MMHS interfaces. It includes both application-level messaging protocols and the related lower layer protocols that need to be addressed.
 
'We've come a long way since bugles and drums were used to communicate orders on the battlefield,' explains Steve Penny, Business Development Manager at Nexor. 'With the increasing numbers of deployed operations, such as the recent international deployment in support of the Tsunami relief work, interoperability of mobile communications has become paramount.'

Nexor Vanguard builds on Nexor's history of providing border services by implementing a 'tactical message transfer agent' that is capable of communicating in a low-bandwidth environment. Nexor Vanguard will include support for compression to aid the throughput of messages, multicasting to reduce the overall message traffic on the network and one way communication (EMCON).

'Following the introduction of the NATO Messaging System, the extension of messaging into the tactical arena is seen as the next logical step for many nations. Nexor's expertise ensures all elements of message handling flow smoothly across the strategic/tactical divide and can be shared across deployed forces,' adds Penny.

About Nexor:

Nexor provides high-tolerance messaging and directory services to governments, the military, financial services and corporate sectors. Founded in 1990, the company specialises in delivering formal messaging for critical environments where the value of communications is high and the need for secure, reliable and auditable handling is paramount.
 
About CWID:

The Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) is a US programme with participation by Australia, Canada, NATO (SHAPE), New Zealand, and the UK. Additional participants in 2005 included South Korea and some of the 'Partners for Peace' nations. The role of CWID is to demonstrate and evaluate new, evolving and commercially available low-risk technologies that improve joint, combined or coalition interoperability, or that enhance C4ISTAR capability and information provision through the use of networked Communication Information Systems (CIS).

For further information, please info [at] nexor [dot] com (subject: Nexor%20Press%20Release) (contact Wendy Draper).