RTX Collins Aerospace to build 9,859 AN/ARC-210(v) avionics voice and data radios in $351.2 million order

Summary points:

• Collins Aerospace will deliver 9,859 AN/ARC-210 radios for U.S. military systems under a major defense order.
• The ARC-210 Gen V radio supports voice, data, and imagery transfer with anti-jam and NSA-approved encryption features.
• Radios will be installed across more than 400 different kinds of aircraft, ships, submarines, and ground systems for U.S. forces and allies.

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – Military aircraft communications experts at Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will provide the U.S. Navy with thousands of avionics radios under terms of a $351.2 million order announced on Monday.

Officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the RTX Corp. Collins Aerospace segment to provide 9,859 AN/ARC-210(v) avionics radios and related equipment.

These radios are for installation in more than 400 military aircraft, ships, submarines, land vehicles, and fixed-site applications for the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard, other government agencies and U.S. allies.

The AN/ARC-210 Gen V programmable digital aircraft radio from Collins Aerospace 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.

Anti-jam waveforms

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 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 communications system conforms to software-defined radio (SDR) tenets and architectures, and transfers networked or point-to-point data, voice, and imagery.

Ethernet networking

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

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

On this order Collins Aerospace will do the work in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and should be finished by September 2026. For more information contact RTX Collins Aerospace online at www.collinsaerospace.com/what-we-do/industries/military-and-defense/communications/airborne-communications/vhf-uhf-l-band/arc-210-rt-2036-c, or the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad.