Harris launches RF-7850A airborne mission radio at DSEI 2013

Harris' new RF-7850A radio – Photo Sgt. DeNoris A. Mickle.

11 September 2013 army-technology.com

Harris has introduced a new airborne mission radio for enhanced international ground-to-air tactical communications at the ongoing Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London, UK.

Dubbed RF-7850A, the new tactical radio is designed to deliver secure and reliable voice and wideband data communications for a range of ground-to-air missions, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), close-air support (CAS) and border patrol.

Harris RF communications international business president, Brendan O'Connell, said the radio enables international forces on both ground and in aircraft to exchange real-time information through interoperable voice, video, images and other ISR applications.

''With more information in hand, air crews will be able to respond quickly and appropriately, resulting in improved mission success,'' O'Connell said.

The radio has been launched in two configurations, namely RF-7850A-UA and RF-7850A-MR, to help offer a better solution than current systems for a broad range of platforms..

A lightweight and single-channel radio, RF-7850A-UA is designed for use with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for rapid data transmission from ISR platforms to air and ground forces, as well as range extension for ground tactical networks.

Featuring significant size, weight and power advantages over the existing communication systems, RF-7850A-MR is a multiband dual-channel radio engineered for use in helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Capable of easily integrating with airframe intercom systems, the radio delivers two independent channels in the same physical space as legacy single-channel solutions. It also has cross-banding capabilities for bridging of disparate radio networks.

The radios feature a simple user interface and are fully interoperable with all members of the company's Falcon II and Falcon III families, including the RF-7800M wideband radio.

In addition, the radios use the Harris adaptive networking wideband waveform (ANW2) and the new time division multiple access (TDMA) networking waveform for wideband networking.