Falls Church-based BAE Systems Inc. has won a $176 million contract to provide software-defined radios to the Air Force.
The defense contractor said in a news release Thursday that the radios, which will support the Air Force’s Airborne High Frequency Radio Modernization program, will provide a secure alternative to satellite communications. The contract is for five years, said BAE Systems spokesperson Shelby Cohen.
BAE will provide long-range communications while jamming threats using a drop-in compatible radio design using commercial off-the-shelf technology from Austin, Texas-based FlexRadio. Development will take place at a BAE Systems facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
“Our airborne radios are scalable and designed for open architecture applications, making them a solution that’s ready for the Air Force’s future needs,” said Dave Logan, vice president and general manager of C4ISR solutions at BAE Systems. “The evolving capabilities of threats in the modern battlefield call for an extensible, modernized anti-jam solution, which our product provides.”
BAE Systems has more than 89,600 employees in more than 40 countries.