Rockwell Collins has successfully completed qualification testing for its military communication radio system, as part of a $12.7bn US Army contract.
The company delivered 30 AN/PRC-162 two-channel radios as part of the tests conducted under the army's Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Fit (HMS) programme.
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Rockwell said that the programme will now enter a customer testing phase in a bid to increase network complexity and validate interoperability with various radio systems.
The contract requires the military to procure more than 60,000 radios throughout the ten-year acquisition programme.
Based on the company’s TruNet networked solution, AN/PRC-162 hosts both narrowband and wideband waveforms, point-to-point data, and mobile user objective system (MUOS) in a software-defined radio architecture.
Rockwell Collins communication and navigation solutions vice-president and general manager Troy Brunk said: “The AN/PRC-162 benefits directly from this technology baseline as well as our proven experience integrating networked communication across the battlefield.
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By GlobalData“Our TruNet product line represents a complete turnkey system solution utilising both air and ground assets and using many common assemblies, parts, and manufacturing processes between them.”
Full-rate production of the radios is expected to begin in 2017.
Rockwell is one of the three awardees of the contract, which also included Harris and General Dynamics, to supply HMS Manpack radios.
The army also selected Harris' AN/PRC-158 multichannel radio for both dismounted and mounted manpack configurations.
Image: Rockwell Collins’ AN/PRC-162 hosts multiple waveforms. Photo: courtesy of Rockwell Collins.
