Black Diamond Advanced Technology, an Arizona-grown company that designs and manufactures wearable/mobile tactical computing systems for a variety of conventional and special operations missions, has begun work on its new 25,000-square-foot facility in Chandler.
“It’s an exciting time at Black Diamond,” said Jeff Dyster, vice president of Engineering and Business Development. “This year has seen us expand our tactical software applications with the release of our new Forward Air Control Utility Suite. We’ve also improved the tactical computing capabilities of our Modular Tactical System (MTS), so it’s been a busy year of improvements and this certainly falls in that category.”
According to Steve Lopez, marketing manager for Black Diamond, the company has been searching for the perfect alternative space from their original Tempe location since last year. The new location will allow Black Diamond to build, test, and ship more products, which results in a quicker production time overall.
“The new facility has several positive effects,” Lopez said. “First, we continue to work with 10 plus local vendors to help us in our daily operations. Second, we were able to relocate some of our remote personnel to the Valley-boosting the economy in the local Chandler area.”
According to Lopez, the company’s founders come from the Guided Weapon Industry in Arizona and have developed “some of the most sophisticated third-generation guided weapons systems in the world.” These weapons include Excalibur (XM-982) Griffin Missile, and the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD).
The company’s computing system serves as a C4ISR solution for close air support, unmanned system ground control stations and distributed communications platforms. They also serve market segments including search and rescue and explosive ordnance disposal operations. The company serves the following military branches: US Air Force, US Marine Corp, Air National Guard, Australian Army, Danish Army Fires, and the Swedish Army.
A few of their products include:
-Modular Tactical System (Hardware and Software): This allows military personnel in the field to have a single computing system that centralizes communications, peripheral equipment, and power management into a wearable unit
-Forward Air Control Utility Suite (Software): This software suite combines several radios, peripherals, and close air support capabilities on a single computer on the MTS solution or any Windows-based computer with Black Diamond cables; it also includes the company’s FAC-Message Emulator™ that allows for easy, low-cost, high-yield JTAC training prior to going to the range under live aircraft
-Wedge Power Management: This provides one battery source for several different radios that need to be carried into the field for different functions, which in turn decreases the load necessary to be carried
The company, with their newfound home in Chandler, plans to keep adding a unique element to the Arizona tech scene with further innovation expansion of their products.
Graphics courtesy of Black Diamond Advanced Technology
