We offer the following summary of the deployments of the Raytheon ACU technologies in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as examples of the versatility and adaptability of our technologies to meet both operability and interoperability needs. We hope these examples will expose you to the numerous applications our interoperability solutions provide. We salute our nation's public safety, medical and military personnel's contributions to the health, safety and welfare of our citizens during their day to day activities and during times of emergencies. We remain committed to assist you in your efforts and hope you find this summary useful.

Regional Deployments
Reestablishment of emergency radio communications along the Mississippi River by the United States Coast Guard Lower Mississippi Sector, Memphis Mississippi.
The loss of Telco lines from the USCG communication center to numerous simplex VHF radio sites along the Mississippi River essentially left a 200 mile section of the river's emergency radio channel inoperable. The USCG deployed ACU-1000's at remote radio sites along the river linking simplex marine emergency VHF control stations with repeated VHF radio systems. These RF links reestablish radio coverage along the river until such time as the Telco lines were repaired.

Reestablishment of lost T-1 and microwave links by the Louisiana State Police.
The Louisiana State Police deployed ACU-1000's and ACU-T's to bridge lost wire and microwave connectivity to remote sites on their statewide 800 MHz radio system. Additionally, they deployed an ACU-T to set up a permanent communications link between their 800 MHz radio system and the 800 MHz system of the New Orleans Police Department.

Command and Control Support by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA deployed ACU-1000's in Baton Rouge LA linking SatCom communications to a Federal UHF frequency to provide a communications link between Baton Rouge and a command center in Mississippi. They also deployed other ACU-1000's in New Orleans to support both operability and interoperability.

A temporary repeater site was supported by the interconnection of disparate radio systems after tower damage in Beaumont Texas.

Texas Department of Public Safety reestablished communications with ACU-T.
JPS provided the Texas Department of Public Safety with several ACU-T bundle kits in the preparation for Hurricane Rita. One deployment of the ACU-T reestablished radio communications in Beaumont Texas after the loss of the tower due to high winds.

Outside the region deployments
Numerous agencies from outside the region responded to provide assistance, many of them bringing ACU technologies to support radio communications, interoperability, command and control, dispatch and E911 functions.

The Montgomery County Maryland Urban Search and Rescue Team deployed to New Orleans. They utilized their ACU-1000 switch to set up interoperable communications links between different fire and EMS agencies. Also located in New Orleans was the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) who utilized their mobile command bus equipped with an ACU-1000.

The Duluth County Georgia Police Department and Chesterfield Virginia Fire/EMS mobile command vehicles deployed to Saint Bernard Parish LA and supported command and control radio interoperability between several different public safety agencies in that area.

The Army and Air National Guard deployed in numerous areas throughout Louisiana and Mississippi supporting interoperability between public safety and military personnel. They deployed their state-of-the-art communications equipment, including the Interim SATCOM Incident Site Communications Set (ISISCS) which includes the ACU-1000 interconnect switch.

Numerous State resources were deployed from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia, each brining mobile and transportable ACU technologies to locations throughout Mississippi and Louisiana.

As part of a State wide mutual aid deployment, the Pinellas County Florida Radio Systems Division and EMS deployed the Portable communications system to Mississippi to provide communications capabilities to the first responders working in Mississippi during the recovery efforts. This system is a self contained 800 MHz system with a 100 foot tower, and can provide communications for hundreds of personnel.

Additional Florida resources from Polk and Orange Counties deployed in Waveland Mississippi and utilized their portable 800 MHz trunked radio system to establish communications in Hancock County. Once communications was reestablished the need for interoperability became a serious priority as numerous agencies from Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Florida, Ohio and South Carolina were also deployed in this same area. The Polk County Sherriff's Department activated their ACU-1000 patching multiple law enforcement and fire agencies in the region to provide communications and command and control support.

Personnel from the Florida Department of Emergency Management and Florida Department of Law Enforcement deployed to the region deploying their EDICS trailers, all of which are equipped with ACU-1000's.

The United States Coast Guard - Louisiana deployed an ACU-T to support radio communications between the State's 800 radio system and a private VHF radio system being used by contractors conducting oil clean up in the Gulf. This patch was set up at a remote un-staffed repeater site.

The City of Baton Rouge became both a staging and command and control area for New Orleans and their fixed site ACU-1000 was used to support communications interoperability during the on going relief efforts.

The United States Postal Inspectors Office achieved local and wide area coverage by the deployment of a simplex UHF radio system in New Orleans patched with a repeated UHF system in Baton Rouge. They then added a telephone patch with connection back to their headquarters in Washington DC linking both radio systems and the telephone patch through their ACU-1000 which is installed in a mobile command vehicle.

A need to supplement communication infrastructure in the New Orleans area was identified by Louisiana officials and Raytheon JPS was requested to assist in the design of six transportable communications systems by Rivada Pacific for Northern Command. A total of six Qualcomm Deployable Base Station (QDBS) that integrated satellite, cellular, LMR and VOIP technologies utilized the ACU-1000 as their LMR interface.

In Summary:
These are only a few examples of the numerous deployments of Raytheon's ACU technologies in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While certainly not the sole solution to support all radio communications in the region, the deployment of our technologies, supplemented by our extensive dealer network for service and company resources for support contributed to the reestablishment of "operability" and effective "interoperability" in numerous jurisdictions throughout the Gulf Coast region.