Northrop Grumman Corp. has received a follow-on contract from the US Army Communications and Electronics Command to provide soldiers additional Frequency Hopping Multiplexers (FHMUX) antenna systems.
The primary function of the FHMUX is to reduce the number of antennas while providing RF isolation between multiple frequency hopping radios. The FHMUX operates across the 30.0 to 87.975 MHz band and has the ability to combine up to four Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINGARS) transceivers in a single antenna. The award, valued at $20 M, represents the fifth production delivery order and brings the total contract value to $90 M to Northrop Grumman’s Government Systems Division under this indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, originally awarded in 2005.
“The TD-1456/VRC FHMUX greatly reduces interference from other radios while reducing the visual target signature of the command and control platform,” said Martin Simoni, site director of Northrop Grumman’s Xetron facility. “Simultaneous transmissions from antennas that are in close proximity to each other often result in self-jamming, greatly reducing the effective range of communications. This phenomenon, sometimes referred to as cosite interference, is mitigated with the use of FHMUX that restores up to 90 percent of the range performance.” Northrop Grumman will produce an additional 230 FHMUX systems and 1005 spare assemblies. Work will be performed at the Northrop Grumman Xetron facility in Cincinnati, OH.