U.S. Air Force Orders General Dynamics Air Traffic Control Radios for Bases in Europe

General Dynamics Mission Systems received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to supply more than 140 CM-300/350 V2 Air Traffic Control (ATC) radios, replacing existing ATC radios currently operating at U.S. Air Force in Europe (USAFE) locations.  The General Dynamics-built radios leverage the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) NEXCOM Segment II radio design with Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking for remote management and maintenance across ATC networks. Sharp, clear voice communication among pilots and air traffic controllers comes from its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operation.  The contract is valued at $23 million over five years.

“With this order from the Air Force, communications among U.S. military air traffic controllers and pilots in Europe will be significantly improved,” said Paul Parent, a vice president of General Dynamics Mission Systems. “Feedback from civilian and U.S. Department of Defense air traffic controllers and pilots highlights the CM-300/350 radio’s significantly improved voice clarity and maintenance teams report the radios deliver reliability measured in years, rather than days, when compared to legacy ATC radios.”

The CM-300/350 V2 software-defined radios operate in ground-to-air communication systems across the United States National Airspace (NAS) and meet frequency spacing requirements needed for flying in Europe. The radios also comply with the international Air Traffic Management (ATM) VoIP standard, and will support NAS ATM ground-infrastructure modernization efforts.

The reliability of the General Dynamics CM-300/350 V2 radios is a significant factor in maintaining air traffic safety across the NAS. Radio performance is measured using Mean-Time-Between-Failure (MTBF), the time that elapses between radio faults. The MTBF for the General Dynamics ATC radios is more than 428,000 hours, almost 49 years of uninterrupted operation. Remote maintenance and monitoring of CM-300/350 V2 radios are performed from various locations across air-to-ground communications networks, contributing to the radios’ high reliability.

General Dynamics began delivering air traffic control radios to the FAA in 1992. Since then, the company has invested in technology upgrades including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operation, increased radio operating efficiency, power savings, radio network resilience and improved voice clarity. The company also sells the URC-200 V2 emergency ATC radios for ground-to-air communications when primary ATC radio systems are unavailable.

The CM-300/350 VHF-UHF V2 radios are built at General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Scottsdale, Arizona facility. For more information about the CM-300/350 V2 radios, visit the General Dynamics Mission Systems ATC radios website.

General Dynamics Mission Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). For more information about General Dynamics Mission Systems, please visit gdmissionsystems.com and follow us on Twitter @GDMS.

Read the release at: U.S. Air Force Orders General Dynamics Air Traffic Control Radios for Bases in Europe