The German Federal Office for Information Management and Information Technology of the Bundeswehr (IT-AmtBw) has awarded Defence Electronics, an integrated activity of EADS Defence & Security (DS), a contract for the development of the broadband module of a new generation of radio terminals. This order forms part of the project for designing the Bundeswehr’s Streitkräftegemeinsame Verbundfähige Funkgeräteausstattung (SVFuA) software-defined joint radio system, which is intended to optimize the German Armed Forces’ mobile voice and data communication in the coming decade.

Owing to the large frequency bandwidth, the broadband module is one of the most challenging elements of the new radio system. The broadband capability enables the transmission of large data volumes over great distances, while at the same time ensuring optimum resistance to jamming. Similar radio frequency components are already being delivered by Defence Electronics for NATO’s data link programme – the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS). For this purpose, the company has set up specialized development and production facilities at its Munich, Ulm and Friedrichshafen locations.

“Secure radio communications are a necessary precondition for protecting our soldiers, especially during operations abroad,” explained Bernd Wenzler, CEO of Defence Electronics. “Thanks to our experience with ultra high frequency equipment and the use of new technologies, for example on the basis of gallium nitride, we are in a position to offer an excellent solution for the most complex component of the new radio system.”