On 1 October, Thales has announced that U.S. Army awarded a ten year for a 2-channel handheld radio program.

According to the company’s statement, Thales has been awarded a ten year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for the United States Army’s 2-Channel Leader Radio program.

This IDIQ contract will equip Soldiers with dismounted and mounted communications solutions delivering cutting-edge technologies and address the Army’s Network Modernization strategy.

“Thales is pleased to be supporting the Army on this critical program in partnership with TrellisWare,” said Mike Sheehan, President and CEO of Thales Defense and Security, Inc. “Together, we have once again demonstrated our first-to-market leadership in delivering the world’s first 2-channel handheld radio which will provide our soldiers with overmatch capability through network connectivity and improved situational awareness.”

With Thales’ Leader Radio, AN/PRC-148C (IMBITR) embedding the TrellisWare TSM waveform, Soldiers no longer need to carry two separate radios to conduct voice and data communications. The IMBITR provides assured, simultaneous networked voice, data and video communications for improved situational awareness while ensuring Joint and Coalition interoperability. As a software-defined radio, the IMBITR allows for future upgrades to new and emerging waveforms. Additionally, through mission modules, the IMBITR addresses future communications convergence requirements with currently available intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and signal intelligence/electronic warfare modules.

As the first to engineer a 2-channel handheld networking radio, Thales has perfected the IMBITR to enable Soldiers to fully leverage battlefield networks, while creating superior interoperability with other connected devices. The IMBITR solution enables redundancy and resiliency while maintaining ground-to-ground and ground-to-air communications providing Soldiers with significantly improved communications giving them the tactical advantage necessary to achieve mission success.

Currently fielded and proven with the Army’s Security Force Assistance Brigade, the IMBITR will provide the Warfighter with critical narrowband very high frequency/ultra high frequency and tactical satellite communications capabilities along with a second wideband channel providing a world-class, mobile, ad hoc networking waveform.