SWave SRT-800 software-defined radio. (Photo: Leonardo)
A new and improved SDR from Leonardo will be installed on NATO s AWACS fleet.
Boeing has chosen the new SWave SRT-800 from Leonardo as the software-defined radio (SDR) of choice for the NATO fleet of 14 E-3A Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.
As a compact and lightweight SDR, the SRT-800 can equip most manned or unmanned fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, Leonardo claimed in a 14 April announcement.
The AWACS fleet is one of the few military assets owned and operated by NATO, so it must maintain operational viability.
The SRT-800 will modernise the E-3A with secure and cyber-resilient air-to-air and air-to-ground connectivity. The SDR will be installed into the E-3A mission system, replacing avionics units such as UHF/VHF radio; SATCOM; the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System; and a crypto device.
US Army seeks graceful migration from SINCGARS
25 January 2021
by Carlo Munoz
US Army leaders are moving forward with evaluating options for an eventual replacement of the service’s Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) in the next three years, in favour of systems that are more mobile, easier to encrypt, and capable of integrating into the army’s larger networked communication modernisation initiative under the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN).
The SINCGARS replacement effort kicked off when service leaders from Army Program Executive Office Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T) issued a request for information (RFI) in October 2020 seeking technology upgrades to legacy radio systems or development of new radio programmes. Since then, army engineers have been evaluating options submitted under the RFI, Program Executive Officer for C3T Army Brigadier General Robert Collins said.