When the terms of a military contract required drop-in replacements for an obsolete RF transmitter-amplifier that had become impossible to source, it turned to Amplifier Technology. The company was able to reverse engineer the 25 year old technology and develop a 21st Century version that the customer could use with its existing battlefield radios.

Amplifier Technology works at the leading edge of GaN technology, using it in the development of a wide range of broad and narrow band products covering military communications and broad range jamming frequencies.

When new old stock of an original Marconi radio transmitter finally became unavailable, the customer was faced with either a complete overhaul of its battlefield radios or finding a simple upgrade path. Amplifier Technology was confident it could engineer a drop-in replacement, giving the existing voice set communication battlefield radios a new lease of life.

The requirement was for a tough, highly reliable RF power amplifier covering NATO Band II frequencies for voice communications. The amplifier had to be robust, compact and powerful, offering 15-20 W power while taking its supply from the radio itself. Land or vehicle mounted, the amplifier had to be shock and vibration resistant, and offer military-standard endurance even in the most demanding of environmental conditions. And it went without saying that a fast turnaround time for the design was a prerequisite.

As a drop-in replacement for the original Marconi radio transmitter, Amplifier Technology developed the 8869 radio communications amplifier. Slotting into the radio transmitter either on land or in-vehicle, it provides a signal boost to extend the voice communications range by miles. Measuring just 268 by 65.4 by 48 mm and weighing 1 kg, the 8869 significantly improves on the performance of the original Marconi amplifier.