Rockwell Collins chosen to provide AN/ARC-210(V) aircraft voice and data radios to Navy in $8 million contract

Feb. 16, 2014
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 16 Feb. 2014. U.S. Navy aviation experts needed line-of-sight and satellite communications (SATCOM) radios for a variety of Navy aircraft. They found their solution from Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 16 Feb. 2014. U.S. Navy aviation experts needed line-of-sight and satellite communications (SATCOM) radios for a variety of Navy aircraft. They found their solution from Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., awarded Rockwell Collins an $8 million contract modification for AN/ARC-210(V) aircraft radios and related avionics communications equipment.

The AN/ARC-210 Gen V programmable digital aircraft radio from Rockwell Collins (NYSE:COL) provides two-way, multi-mode voice and data communications over frequencies from 30 to 512 MHz, covering UHF and VHF bands with AM, FM, and satellite communications capabilities.

Related: Navy orders AN/ARC-210(V) aircraft radios, radio control sets, and related avionics equipment from Rockwell Collins

The ARC-210 radio also includes embedded anti-jam waveforms, including Have Quick and SINCGARS, and other data link and secure communications features for battlefield interoperability and transfer of data, voice, and imagery. The radios communicate with other avionics over a MIL-STD-1553 data bus.

The contract modification is to exercise an option for the Navy to buy 15 C-12561A/ARC radio remote-control units; 65 MT-6567/ARC RT low-profile mounts; 15 MT-7006/ARC high-power amplifier (AM-7526) mounts; 15 AM-7526/ARC high-power amplifiers; 15 MX-11641/ARC SATCOM LNA/diplexers; 50 AS-3972/A 9-inch blade antennas; 50 CV-4092/A tunable antenna logic converters, and 65 RT-1939(C)/ARC AN/ARC-210 Gen5 programmable digital communications systems.

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The ARC-210 aircraft radio provides VHF close air support radio communications on 30-88 MHz frequencies; navigation on 108-118 MHz; air traffic control on 118-137 MHz; land mobile communications on 137-156 MHz; and maritime communications on 156-174 MHz. The radios also provide aircraft with UHF military and homeland defense communications on 225-512 MHz frequencies; and public-safety communications on 806-824, 851-869, 869-902, and 935-941 frequencies.

The AN/ARC-210 Gen V programmable digital communication system conforms to software-defined radio (SDR) tenets and architectures, and transfers networked or point-to-point data, voice, and imagery.

Rockwell Collins engineers also have added a connector in the back of the radio to allow an Ethernet input for network-centric warfare. Rockwell Collins has supplied more than 30,000 AN/ARC-210 radios worldwide on over 180 different kinds of aircraft for multiband, multimode communications.

Related: British Airways deploys Twisted Pair’s WAVE to extend ground-to-air radio communications to desktop PCs

The ARC-210 also provides embedded, programmable information security per the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) Cryptographic Modernization Initiative.

On this contract modification, Rockwell Collins will do the work in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and should be finished by this November. For more information contact Rockwell Collins online at www.rockwellcollins.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.

About the Author

John Keller | Editor-in-Chief

John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.

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