BAE Systems to integrate Collins navigation and communications systems in Bradley armored combat vehicles

WARREN, Mich. – Armored combat vehicles designers at BAE Systems will integrate Collins Aerospace secure communications networking and navigation systems into the U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle under terms of a $10.4 million contract announced in December.

Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Mich., are asking the BAE Systems BAE Systems Platforms & Services segment in San Jose, Calif., to integrate the Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Fit (HMS) next-generation radio and Mounted Assured Position Navigation and Timing Solution (MAPS) Generation 2 into the M2A3 and M3A3 Bradley Fire Support Team (BFIST) and Fire Support Sensor System (FS3) vehicle.

The Collins MAPS Gen 2 maintains the integrity of positioning and timing in GPS-contested environments and keeps up with the pace of current and future enemy threats and technologies, Collins officials say.

The Collins AN/PRC-162 HMS is a two-channel networked communications ground radio that uses several narrowband and wideband waveforms for high-speed mobile ad-hoc networked communications, point-to-point data, voice, satellite communications, and IP-based waveform communications.

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The BFIST with FS3 vehicle represents a major upgrade in target location and designation while maintaining the capabilities of the A3 BFIST in lethality, command and control, survivability, sustainability, and mobility, BAE Systems officials say.

The A3 BFIST FS3 provides advanced target grid coordinates to support precision munition calls for fire by automatically generation an estimated target location error in the call for fire to eliminate the need for manual target grid refinement.

The A3 BFIST FS3 maintains the battlefield signature, mobility, and survivability of the M2A3 Bradley, while maintaining the vehicle's 25-millimeter cannon and 7.62-millimeter machine gun for defensive capability.

The FS3 provides target location range as far away as 13 miles, and performs target designation under armor. The vehicle offers increased driver field of view to aid maneuverability in close-in urban combat. The system handles network connectivity and beyond-line-of-sight communications through digital satellite communications.

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The Collins MAPS Gen 2 comprises the company's NavHub-100 navigation system and Multi-Sensor Antenna System (MSAS-100) to bring heightened protection against evolving GPS threats. It offers GPS Military Code (M-Code) capability and modernized signal tracking that enhances GPS integrity.

NavHub-100 generates and distributes assured position, navigation and timing information to all systems on the vehicle through one device. The MSAS-100 antenna provides anti-jam communications in severe GPS-challenged environments.

The AN/PRC-162 radio enables the Army to maintain interoperability with relatively old communications waveforms like the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS), and next-generation waveforms like the Trellisware TSM waveform and Warrior Robust Enhanced Network (WREN) waveform. The AN/PRC-162 also enhances tactical satellite communications with the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS).

On this contract BAE Systems will do the work in San Jose, Calif., and should be finished by November 2024. For more information contact BAE Systems Platforms & Services online at www.baesystems.com; Collins Aerospace at www.collinsaerospace.com; or the Army Contracting Command-Detroit Arsenal at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-dta/.