Collins develops mission-specific waveforms for USAF – Digital Battlespace

Radio SPARTAN. (Photo: Collins Aerospace)

Two new software-defined radios combine COTS technology with military hardware to expand network nodes and expand the effective range that data can travel.

Collins Aerospace is producing two software-defined radio stations (SDRs) for USAF, which will connect and transmit terrestrial and terrestrial radio data over a multi-node network for the first time.

Open architecture SDRs – developed in the software programmable Agile Radio for Tactically Connected Universal Systems (SPARTACUS) and the software programmable Agile RF Tactical Aerial Network (SPARTAN) – will speed up data transmission and expand the range of data, said Raytheon Technologies at 18 May .

Collins is developing radars under two separate USAF contracts worth a total of $ 21 million.

The low-cost ground-to-air radio for SPARTACUS “can support hereditary and future waveforms, and can also integrate additional waveforms from third countries,” the company said, adding that SPARTAN radio is capable of controlling multiple waves simultaneously. to maintain critical connectivity.

Both radio stations share common design elements that support a variety of waveform capabilities, including multi-node directional data connections and out-of-range SATCOM connections, Collins added.