Exelis’ (now Harris) SideHat radio appliqué enable existing tactical radios which use the SINCGARS waveform to also use the SRW which is being rolled out as part of the JTRS initiative © Exelis/Harris
the pleasure of announcing a new player in this sector nevertheless, Per Vices Corporation of Toronto has brought its Crimson SDR to our attention. According to Brandon Malatest, co-founder of Per Vices Corporation, the Crimson SDR was launched in 2015, development having commenced in 2013. According to the company’s official literature, the radio has four independent transmit and receive channels, each capable offering up to 332MHz of bandwidth. Moreover, it has a significant data rate of up to 20 gigabitsper-second. Mr. Malatest says that the company does have military customers for the Crimson SDR but has demurred from revealing who these customers are. I Elbit
Away from Canada, Israel remains as an important hub for tactical radio development. Elbit Systems, for example, is currently engaged in a major effort to overhaul the tactical communications used by the country’s army. This January it was awarded a contract worth $117 million under the Israeli Defence Force’s Digital Army Programme (DAP) which will outfit the force with a host of new Command and Control (C2) networks
Israel’s Digital Army Programme will outfit the force with a host of new C2 networks and new communications over the next six years. Elbit’s contract is to maintain and upgrade unspecified ‘wideband radios’, according to local press reports announcing the deal. These reports have not specified exactly which radios currently in use with the Israeli Army will receive the enhancements, or the scope of the enhancements therein. I Rafael
Elbit Systems is joined as one of Israel’s providers of tactical radios by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. At the heart of the company’s offerings in the tactical radio domain is its BNET broadband mobile, ad hoc networking, IP-based software defined radios. The BNET family includes handheld, manpack and vehicular radios known as the BNET-HH, BNETMP and BNET-V respectively.
The BNET-HH, as the five watt handheld radio is known, covers HF, VHF and UHF with an optional increase to S-band available if so desired by the customer. The radio can perform multiband reception when using the BNET-TX waveform, and handles data at up to 100mbps using the BNET-RX waveform, while accommodating several NATO waveforms. The BNET-MP/V, meanwhile, handles similar waveforms, but is slightly heavier, weighing seven kilograms (15.4lbs). Rafael has remained taciturn as to which ground forces have procured the BNET-HH/MP/V, although either one, or all three, radios are thought to be in use with the Israeli Army. That said, Ron Reiss, marketing and business development manager at the company’s C4I Directorate told Armada that it is planning to introduce new waveforms for BNET customers in 2016. In the land domain, this will include the G-WB (Ground Wideband Waveform) which will be available for use from early 2016. I Reutech
While new waveforms may be adopted by Israeli tactical radio customers from 2016, South Africa is in the midst of overhauling armada
2015/16 Tactical Radios Compendium
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