Raytheon supports US Army's Aviation units with additional satellite radio equipment

Oct. 22, 2013

The U.S. Army Aviation Systems team, which provides helicopter mission equipment support to Conventional and Special Operations Aviation forces, has purchased additional airborne radios from Raytheon Company to support full-spectrum Army Aviation mission execution.

The $13 million award from the Army Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) was made in Raytheon's third quarter of 2013 under the Multi-mode Airborne Radio Set (MARS) program and supports all facets of Army Aviation airborne communications operation, to include air-to-air, over-the-horizon, and air-to-ground. The additional equipment increases the multi-year, MARS Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract value to more than $370 million and 5,600 radio sets.

The Army has standardized on Raytheon's ARC-231 satellite communications systems across Army aviation platforms. The radio provides Type 1 National Security Agency-certified encryption, the government's highest security certification.