AFL Develops Tactical Cable Product Line for Critical Communications

New tactical cables are easy to deploy, reliable for critical communications and rugged enough to withstand severe crush, impact and abrasion resistance

AFL, a leading manufacturer of fiber optic cable and accessories, is expanding its tactical tight-buffered cable offering to include reduced cable diameters and higher fiber count configurations. Ideal for use in harsh environments, the new tactical cables are easy to deploy, reliable for critical communications and rugged enough to withstand severe crush, impact and abrasion resistance.

Through manufactured efficiencies, AFL has greatly reduced the diameters of its tactical tight-buffered cables across all available fiber counts to maximize on space constraints and minimize the overall installation weight.

While still meeting the stringent mechanical and environmental parameters established by MIL-PRF-85045, the reduction in cable diameters allows more cables to be placed on standard reeling and deployment systems like those used in outside broadcast applications. This equates to easier distribution of cable and longer runs without multiple interconnects.

Furthermore, the smaller cable diameters reduce the overall weight of the cable. With a decreased weight per 1,000 feet less than many leading manufacturers, the new smaller diameter AFL tactical cables are easier to be stored, deployed and retrieved.

In addition to the smaller diameters, AFL is also introducing a 24-fiber option to its tactical tight-buffered cable product line. This addition expands the tactical cable product line to include one to 24 fibers. With the increase in media demands and data transmission rates, this higher fiber count is ideal for backhaul broadcast applications and implementation of 100 GbE systems.

“We listened to our customers and went to work creating options and flexible solutions to help them configure the best system to meet their unique application requirements,” said Craig Stratton, market manager for AFL’s industrial markets.

“By expanding our tactical offering, AFL is providing ruggedized solutions designed to ensure high-bandwidth data transmission with the ease of deployment,” he said.

The complete line of tactical tight-buffered cables are ideal for use in installations where extreme environmental conditions are present such as outside broadcast, military tactical and security applications.