Rhode & Schwarz Soveron AR Airborne Radio (Janes/Pritish Dhingra)
Rhode & Schwarz has been contracted to equip the German Navy's NHIndustries NH90 Multi-Role Frigate Helicopter (MRFH) with its software-defined Soveron AR (airborne radios), the company announced on 25 January.
The company stated that it will deliver its Soveron radios onto 31 German Navy MRFH helicopters, each aircraft will be fitted with three VHF/UHF transceivers. The systems will be embedded with communication security.
A Rhode & Schwarz spokesperson told Janes that the company received a contract from Airbus Helicopters to deliver the radios. Airbus Helicopters, they added, would also handle the integration of the radios on the German aircraft.
Airbus Helicopters was not able to respond to a Janes request for information regarding the timeline for integration of the radios onto the helicopters, at the time of publication.
The Soveron airborne radio uses “state-of-the-art communications algorithms that were standardized throughout NATO, and particularly for naval applications. The transceiver's interfaces allow external devices or an external encryption device to be connected and guards the naval distress frequency, thereby remaining future-proof”, the company said.
SOVERON is a family of multiplatform, multiband tactical software-defined radios (SDR) operating in the VHF/UHF (30–512 MHz) frequency band. The system is being offered in three variants – SOVERON VR (vehicular tactical radio), SOVERON AR, and SOVERON HR (handheld radio).
More than 8,000 Soveron AR are in use worldwide, on over 70 different airborne platforms, the company stated.
The company previously informed Janes that the Soveron AR systems were in use in several countries Boeing's CH-47F Chinook helicopters. The radios will also be introduced on Saab's Gripen fighter aircraft, and will replace the legacy Rhode & Schwarz MR6000R SDR in older Gripen models.
Looking to read the full article?
Gain unlimited access to Janes news and more...
