Air Force Awards Contract For Airborne Radio Prototype.

* The Air Force has awarded L3Harris Technologies a contract to develop a competitive prototype for a new aircraft-mounted radio to replace the service's AN/ARC-190 airborne HF radio.

The prototype, the L3 Harris Falcon Wideband Airborne HF Radio, is a software-defined, digital multi-mode system that meets the ARC-190 communication requirements, Ryan McCarty, vice president of Defense Department business development at L3 Harris' Communication Systems, said in an interview.

The technology provides airmen an alternative capability in a satellite communications-denied environment with embedded encryption, the company said in a press release.

The modernized radio fits into the same space as legacy systems, combining three individual pieces of hardware into a single apparatus to reduce weight, power consumption and size, according to the company. The system is upgradable, making it possible to accept new waveforms and software capabilities.

Other improvements include more resilient communications with a low probability of detection, cross-domain interoperability and broad interoperability for multinational operations, McCarty noted.

The system also addresses the service's modernization requirements, allowing airmen to transmit data at speeds up to 10 times greater...