Allen-Vanguard is fully aware that by its nature, ECM is a life-saving piece of equipment. As such the company is committed to supporting our customers and equipment in the field to ensure the systems are properly maintained, functional and operational availability is achieved.

The level of support AV provides varies depending on customer’s fleet size, requirements and the degree of repair and maintenance training their personnel have received. We have been involved in complex Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) programs requiring the deployment of 40+ full time, in-theatre Field Service Representatives (FSRs) to maintain a fleet in excess of 6000 systems, to the provision of an annual service visit by one our technicians to a customer with a fleet size of four systems.

Allen Vanguard has conducted hundreds of installations of its ECM systems into customer’s vehicles at their locations, in operational theatres and at our facilities. These installations have included military and civilian pattern vehicles, armoured and non-armoured, covert and overt fits.

Whilst there are generic components of any ECM vehicle installation (i.e. ECM equipment, antennas, cabling, power management system) each type of vehicle presents unique challenges and customers may have additional requirements that will also impact on the installation.

AV therefore always recommends that a vehicle integration study be conducted prior to the design of any ECM Vehicle Installation Kit (VIK) and its subsequent implementation. The study, amongst other things, will identify:

•       The best location for the equipment to minimize space claim and impact on its occupants.
•       Types of antennas required, placement of the antennas to provide optimum coverage, whether they            are fixed, erectable or magnet mounted.
•       Availability or requirement for ground plane
•       Power, antenna and RCU cable routing
•       RCU placement
•       Requirement for power management system, secondary alternator and high idle kit
•       Requirement for environmental protection case and cooling system
•       Requirement to be interoperable with existing C4I equipment such as communications and asset                  tracking systems that may require additional modifications such as in-line filters.

On completion of the installation AV’s engineers will conduct comprehensive testing (commissioning) of the vehicle and its ECM system to ensure that it is fully functional and operating within acceptable standards.

In addition to maintaining the equipment, it is also essential that it is operated and employed correctly by the end user, if not; at best it could be ineffective and at worst dangerous.  Allen-Vanguard has a training team consisting of former military ECM Operators, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Operators and ECM technicians with extensive real-world experience of tactically employing and supporting ECM in operational environments.

The team has been involved in long term ECM training programs with the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND), US Marine Corps, Australian Defence Force, US State & Local Bomb Squads and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as delivering individual training courses to customers around the world.