During the invite-only breakfast prior to the Trade Show opening, WAT representatives enjoyed a talk by Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, Commanding General of the 18th Airborne Corps, on the important role of defense contractors in the stabilization and growth of North Carolina’s economy.

Congressman Larry Kissell and Senator Kay Hagan both expressed an interest in the Tactical Vest Antenna System while meeting with Bobby Dennis, President of Wearable Antenna Technologies. “I appreciate the time Senator Hagan and Congressman Kissell spent with us.”, stated Bobby Dennis after the trade show, “Wearable Antenna Technologies looks forward to expanding our mutually beneficial relationships in the defense industry through trade shows such as this one in Fayetteville.”

Senator Richard Burr, also in attendance, noted of the trade show, “70 vendors and over 300 individual participants attended this year’s trade show.  North Carolina has the 3rd largest military presence of any state in the US and this event was a great opportunity to create jobs in the state by fostering economic relationships between contractors and North Carolina companies.”

Eminent attendees of the trade show included Senator Kay Hagan, Senator Richard Burr, Congressman Larry Kissell, Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, Major General William E. Ingram, and Garrison Commander of Ft. Bragg, Colonel   Stephen J. Sicinski.

The DSTA program is designed to create collaborations with the military, entrepreneurs and innovators while fostering the rapid development of defense and security technology solutions to meet military needs and private industry demands.

DSTA will be assisting WAT Inc. with bringing the Tactical Vest Antenna System (TVAS) into the market.  DSTA’s team will provide WAT with invaluable industry expertise, technical assistance, and legal consulting.

“Wearable Antenna Technologies Inc. is looking forward to collaborating with DSTA in order to make the Tactical Vest Antenna System market ready.” said Bobby Dennis, CEO of Wearable Antenna Technologies.  Andy Potanin, VP, added, “The partnership will play a fundamental role in raising market awareness of our current, and future, products and technologies.”

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Wearable Antenna Technologies Inc, has implemented its User Evaluation Phase, in which several prototypes are provided to military personnel in order receive feedback before going into production. “We want to provide our Armed Forces with the best possible communications gear. Field testing of our gear by active duty operators provides us with invaluable feedback.” stated Andy Potanin, VP. “Far too often equipment is designed with limited input from the actual military personnel that will be using it in the future.” he added.

“There are still a number of challenges that lay ahead before we are in full production,” said Al Lee, Director of Operations “once the User Evaluation Phase is complete, tooling and durability testing must be conducted on the final design.” This testing will ensure that the components will meet the harsh conditions that are found in tactical environments.

Performance of the TVAS-IOTV will be equivalent to the performance of the TVAS-MTV as the fundamental characteristics are the same throughout the TVAS line. Official testing of the antenna’s performance has not yet been conducted, as the antenna is still in development. However, initial field testing and simulations show great promise.

“Over the last few months the TVAS has undergone a number of significant breakthroughs. The TVAS has been made slimmer, more durable, easier to use, and the overall performance has been significantly increased.” said Bobby Dennis, CEO of Wearable Antenna Technologies, “as we enter the final stages of development, we will continue to gather feedback from operational troops in order to finalize the product and release it into the market as early as January of 2009.”

The current prototype is designed for the MTV vest, the most extensively used vest in the Marine Corps. Designs for other vests, such as Improved Outer Tactical Vest and the Full Spectrum Battle Equipment are in the early stages of development and are expected to be released to the market in middle of 2009.