Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has been awarded a contract through competitive tender to provide the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) with airborne radios for installation on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) patrolling the Israeli exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the company announced on 4 August 2024.
Installed on Heron-type UAVs, the radios will allow shore-based navy personnel to hail vessels within the EEZ and communicate with them directly.
The value of the contract and quantity of radios ordered was not disclosed.
The model ARC-840 radios, developed and manufactured by IAI’s ELTA Systems defence electronics division, are based on advanced software-defined radio (SDR) technology and support voice, video and data communications. They are able to communicate in a wide variety of communications protocols and modulations, enabling forces in the land, air and sea to collaborate.
The ARC-840 radio forms part of IAI’s product suite for UAV communications, comprising SDR radios as well as satellite and line-of-sight (LOS) communications systems.
IAI noted in a press release that, to date, its airborne communication systems have been installed on hundreds of aerial platforms – both manned and unmanned – and have accumulated hundreds of thousands of hours in operational and combat environments. These systems have been provided in co-operation with leading platform manufacturers, including Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Dassault Aviation and others.
“Collaboration between different forces, in separate domains of operation, requires interoperability between different and disparate communications systems,” Adi Dulberg, vice president and general manager of ELTA’s Intelligence, Communications and Electronic Warfare Division, was quoted as saying in an IAI press release. “ELTA’s SDR technology, supporting multiple channels, modulations, and networks, serves as a crucial link between networks, enabling forces in the land, air and sea to collaborate effectively. We are proud to be selected by the IDF to support the Israeli Air Force and Navy in their day-to-day missions,” he added.
