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Raytheon wins next-gen satcom certification contract

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Two Navy MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush take off after switching pilots during a joint fire exercise with Army AH-64 Apaches from 3rd Battalion, 159th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion (ARB), 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), and Air Force joint terminal attack controllers from the 82nd Expeditionary Air Operations Squadron on July 8, 2014, near Camp Buehring, Kuwait. The ARB, originally stationed in Germany under the 12th CAB, is deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom under the 42nd CAB, New York Army National Guard. (N.Y. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Harley Jelis/Released)

Raytheon has been awarded a $36 million contract for certification and testing of upgrades to Army aviation radios.

Raytheon will upgrade the AN/ARC-231 Multi-Mode Communications System, which is a software-defined radio that can connect with the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite waveform, as well as legacy air-to-air and air-to-ground radios.

The AN/ARC-231 is used on more than 7,000 rotary, fixed-wing and unmanned Army platforms, including Apaches, Blackhawks, Chinooks and Gray Eagles, according to a Raytheon news release.

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Michael Peck is a correspondent for Defense News and a columnist for the Center for European Policy Analysis. He holds an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Find him at theuncommondefense.com. His email is mikedefense1@gmail.com.