Ventura County Fire Takes Delivery of New Firehawk Helicopters with Axnes PNG Wireless ICS Installed
Colorado Springs, CO, USA, May 20, 2021 - Mission Wireless Intercom innovator and leader Axnes announced today that the new reconfigured Ventura County UH-60L Firehawk’s that recently delivered from United Rotorcraft’s facility in Denver, are equipped with the Axnes PNG Wireless ICS. Both aircraft delivered to the customer feature the integration of PNG’s GPS positioning capability of the MP50 handheld transceivers with the onboard AeroComputers UC-6000 digital mapping system for greater situational awareness of dismounted crew members, especially while operating at night and in rugged terrain.
Ventura County’s Firehawk aircraft incorporate a variety of mission-specific equipment to meet specific mission needs, including the Axnes second generation PNG Wireless Intercommunication System (WICS). The aircraft were completed by United Rotorcraft, who specialize in high-quality next-generation airborne firefighting helicopter completions, specifically UH-60 conversions and new S-70i Firehawk integrations.
The DO-160G (environmental-airborne) and DO-178C (software-airborne) qualified PNG WICS is integrated with the aircraft Eagle Avionics digital intercom system increasing mission capability and operational safety for the most challenging scenarios, particular during rescue hoist missions.
The PNG WICS frees crew members from the encumbrance of wired connections to the intercom while minimizing the potential for ICS cord snag hazards. Additionally, this wireless solution provides for the ability to move freely within as well as outside the aircraft while maintaining real-time communications with the crew.
Stephen “Steve” Mickels, Commercial Sales & Solutions Manager of Axnes stated, “We are proud to support Ventura County Fire by providing them with our PNG wireless ICS for their new Firehawk aircraft. Axnes’ PNG system has earned a solid reputation amongst state and local airborne firefighting and utility agencies as an extremely versatile and efficient tool to help improve communication, safety and situational awareness during critical public safety missions. The PNG system enables line-of-sight wireless communication with full AES 256 grade encryption for secure transmission.” He continued, “The unique integration of the GPS positioning feature of the MP50 handheld transceivers together with the AeroComputers mapping system allows for continuous tracking of dismounted crew members.”
Captain Mel Lovo of the Ventura County FIre Department commented, “We selected the Axnes PNG wireless intercom for our new Firehawk’s because it provides superb wireless ICS capability, as proven on hundreds of aircraft worldwide. Their PNG wireless ICS will provide our agency with important communications for our flight crews. Its full-duplex capability allows for crew communication inside and outside of the aircraft in the most severe noise environments. What attracted us to PNG is its unique adaptive noise and echo cancelling technology and its “hands-free” non-interrupted VOX capabilities. Additionally, since the PNG wireless ICS is used by several different agencies and organizations in California, it allows for communication in multi-agency events for cross agency communication between multiple different PNG handheld units, by switching to a common or shared channel.”
The PNG WICS system is designed for integration into any aircraft communications suite, or it can be deployed as a standalone portable system. PNG provides robust, reliable, clear, and secure, full-duplex communications to crew members who are either wired or wireless.,k
