Rantelon, a spin-off company from Tallinn University of Technology, provided Estonian soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan with radio scrambler devices or jammers. Now the enterprise is looking to get its foot in the US defense industry’s door.

The owners of Rantelon, engineers Andres Taklaja and Priit Kinks, can spend hours talking about various antennas, amplifiers and filters that the company is selling to large Estonian telecom undertakings.

Rantelon, however, has a special product the secrecy level of which is so high that it is not even mentioned on the company’s web site – a jammer.

Jammer is a radio device scrambler that looks like a box with an antenna and will mess up evil terrorist plans. The jammer is installed on a patrol convoy car or, in the case of a smaller version, carried on a soldier’s back.

The device creates a safe “umbrella”: when the bad guy, lurking in the bushes, tries to ignite a bomb (so-called radio controlled improvised explosive device) using a car key, garage key or another handy radio device usable as a trigger, the jammer blocks the relevant radio frequencies. The explosion is delayed until the convoy has driven past and the scrambling signal has become weaker. Tens of different types of Rantelon manufactured jammers are currently in use by Estonian soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If a soldier moves away from the vehicle, they will carry a jammer that weights ten kilograms and can be mounted on the back. A signaling device that will notify the soldier on exiting the protecting “umbrella” perimeter created by the jammer on the car comes as an addition to the jammer. Rantelon’s crew is not at liberty to say how extensive the working radius of the scrambler is. That’s a state secret as is the exact number of jammers.

Andres Taklaja is careful in choosing his words when talking about jammers as these devices are manufactured under a special permit. A state secret veils the device. The work is conducted based on the wishes of the person who orders, i.e. the Estonian territorial defense army through a state owned company E-Arsenal.

“We’re not sitting in an ivory tower, enjoying academic freedom and generating half-baked ideas that we wouldn’t be able to sell to the manufacturer and that would lead us to frustration. An idea is brought to us after which we reach an agreement as to what is feasible in terms of physics and what is not. Finally, if the price and outcome is satisfactory, we manufacture the device,” Taklaja says.

Due to circumstances, engineers took as little as two weeks to make the first scrambler from the original idea into a prototype. In 2003, the scrambler was needed in Iraq fast where it worked very well. Since then, the Estonian territorial defense army has ordered further development of the product, accessories as well as new jammers.

As their next step, Rantelon with E-Arsenal’s help wants to break any existing barriers and take Estonian jammers to protect troops from other counties, as well. According to Taklaja, Estonia’s coalition partners often work with US money which means that US manufacturers’ military equipment constitutes their first preference.

“There have been cases where an explosion has not taken place when an Estonian convoy drives past, yet a bomb has gone off when a convoy from another country passes,” notes Taklaja. This testifies to the operating reliability and competitiveness of the Estonian product, making for a strong sales pitch in relation to countries with a long haul participation in various war zones.

Rantelon through partnering E-Arsenal has essentially “hung out its bate” and is waiting for a breakthrough with new clients. Until E-Arsenal’s sales efforts will bear fruit, Rantelon will continue with further development of the jammers as the bombers as well are becoming increasingly sly.

“Scrambler manufacturers around the world are prepared to make and sell the devices at any cost as long as it keeps the buyers away from manufacturers from other countries. Officers, however, care about keeping their troops alive, no matter who makes the relevant equipment. That’s the fight we’re engaged in!” Taklaja explains.

What is working in Rantelon’s favor is its small size and flexibility – they know the men in the territorial defense army very well, devices are manufactured and developed fast and even keeping a state secret doesn’t take as much stamina as in the case of a voluptuous byrocracy such as the United States.

Rantelon’s scrambler for civilian purposes is currently in successful operation in the Rummu prison in Estonia, blocking cell phone network connections for prisoners where necessary. This has done away with a problem the prison’s management faced earlier – mobile phones being thrown over the fence into the prison yard.