Case Study
Key facts
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Customer: Embraer Defense & Security
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Mandate: As part of the development of secure airborne communications for the C-390 military transport, radios on board the aircraft needed to fit all Brazilian Air Force (FAB) needs and standards.
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Solution: The SOVERON airborne software defined radio (SDR) family was developed to meet modernization needs and is widely used over a variety of platforms.
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Key benefit: The SOVERON airborne SDR family guarantees interoperability through joint all-domain command and control (C2).
The platform
Embraer Defense & Security’s C-390 Millennium military transport aircraft has been procured by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). FAB will ultimately receive 28 C-390s and received its fourth C-390 in December 2020. In addition toserving its home market in Brazil, the company has signed contracts with Hungary and Portugal. The C-390 is fully NATO compatible.
Customer situation and requirement
The Embraer Defense & Security C-390 Millennium is a new generation multi-mission transport aircraft. It is capable of transporting and launching cargo and troops and performing a wide array of missions: aerial refueling (fighters and helicopters), resupply, firefighting, medical evacuation, search and rescue, and humanitarian aid, all in a single unique multi-mission platform.
Rohde & Schwarz solution
The C-390 Millennium aircraft can be equipped with two state-of-the-art SDRs of the SOVERON family including frequency hopping and encryption capability. The R&S®MR6000R VHF/UHF airborne transceiver comes with R&S®SECOS waveform to achieve information superiority for command and control (C2).
The application ranges from secure voice to tactical data covering all scenarios of airborne platforms and for seamless connectivity with ground based defence and units. The waveform is extremely robust against hostile jamming and optimized for secure communications in a fast-moving, harsh environment.
Results and achievements
In January 2012, the aircraft manufacturer signed a framework agreement with Rohde & Schwarz. Under this agreement, the R&S®MR6000R VHF/UHF airborne transceiver, will be standard equipment for the C-390 Millennium. Each aircraft will be equipped with two of these radios. Rohde & Schwarz has delivered the first VHF/UHF airborne transceivers for the C-390 Millennium prototype in 2013.
Embraer Defense & Security has already installed SOVERON SDRs in its A-29 Super Tucano, in operation since 2003 as part of Sistema de Vigiláncia da Amazónia (SIVAM), a project to protect the Brazilian rain forest. Rohde & Schwarz was furthermore selected by FAB to equip its modernized Embraer E-99M aerial early warning and surveillance (AEW&C) aircraft with modern and secure communications based on the SOVERON radio architecture.
Product
The R&S®MR6000R, part of the SOVERON family of SDRs, is designed for installation in the avionic bay and is remotely controlled. Despite weighing less than 4 kg, the R&S®MR6000R offers outstanding reception and transmission performance, and a choice of frequency hopping methods: HAVE QUICK II / SATURN or HAVE QUICK II, SATURN and R&S®SECOS in a single device, as well as highly secure embedded R&S®SECOS encryption.
Almost 8,500 SDRs from the SOVERON airborne radio family are in use worldwide on over 70 different platforms.
