Navy makes big order of AN/ARC-210(v) avionics radios with embedded NSA encryption to RTX Collins Aerospace
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. military radio communications experts needed secure radios for aircraft, surface ships, land vehicles and fixed-site ground installations. They found their solution from the RTX Corp. Collins Aerospace segment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $279.6 million three-year contract in September to Collins for 8,493 AN/ARC-210(v) radios AN/ARC-210(v) radios and ancillaries.
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.
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 communication system conforms to software-defined radio (SDR) tenets and architectures, and transfers networked or point-to-point data, voice, and imagery.
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 2027. For more information contact RTX Collins Aerospace online at www.collinsaerospace.com, or the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad.
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.
