General Dynamics to provide FAA with air traffic control radios

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. 25 April 2012. General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), received a contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for radios that allow air traffic control personnel to communicate with commercial and military aircraft throughout the National Airspace System (NAS). The 10-year, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract has a potential value of $363 million if all options are exercised. General Dynamics received a $6 million initial award to qualify and certify the radios for operation in the NAS.

The contract is part of the FAA's Next Generation Air-Ground Communications (NEXCOM) Segment 2 program, which includes replacing outmoded air traffic control (ATC) air-to-ground radios with radios using the latest in communications technology. The software-defined CM300/350 VHF and UHF air traffic control radios will provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) capabilities along with ground-to-air communications.

General Dynamics first delivered the CM-series UHF and VHF air traffic control radios to the FAA in 1992 and has delivered over 13,500 CM300/350 Version 1 UHF radios as part of the NEXCOM UHF contract awarded in 2001.