PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Maryland – U.S. Navy communications experts are ordering thousands of radios for aircraft, surface ships and land-based installations after such a severe radio order just last month.
Officials with the Aircraft Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $280.4 million order Friday to Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for 8,490 AN/ ARC-210(v). .
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 the UHF and VHF bands with AM, FM and satellite communication capabilities.
On Aug. 28, the Navy announced a $38.8 million order to Collins for 990 AN/ARC-210(v) radios and ancillary equipment for aircraft, surface ships and land installations.
These radios are for installation in more than 400 strategic and tactical air, sea, and mobile and fixed ground platforms for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard, other government agencies, and allies.
The ARC-210 radio includes built-in anti-jamming waveforms, including Have Quick and SINCGARS, and other data link and secure communications features for battlefield interoperability and data, voice and image transfer. Radio communicates with others avionics over a MIL-STD-1553 data bus.
The ARC-210 aircraft radio provides VHF radio communications for close air support on frequencies 30-88 MHz; 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 internal defense communications on frequencies 225-512 MHz; and public safety communications on frequencies 806-824, 851-869, 869-902 and 935-941.
The AN/ARC-210 Gen V Programmable Digital Communications System follows Software Defined Radio (SDR) principles and architectures and transfers data, voice and images over a network or point-to-point.
Collins Aerospace engineers have also added a connector to the back of the radio to allow an Ethernet input for network warfare. Collins Aerospace has delivered more than 30,000 AN/ARC-210 radios worldwide to more than 180 different types of aircraft for multi-band, multi-mode communications.
The ARC-210 also provides built-in, programmable information security under the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) Cryptographic Modernization Initiative.
On this order, Collins Aerospace will perform the work in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and should be completed by September 2026. For more information, contact Collins Aerospace online at www.collinsaerospace.com or the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at www. navair. navy.mil/nawcad.
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