Thales Selected for U.S. Army Rifleman Radio Program 14051503

Defence & Security News - United States
 
Thales Selected for U.S. Army Rifleman Radio Program
Thales has recently been selected to provide the U.S. Army with Rifleman Radio systems. This award, under a ten-year (five-year base with five-year option) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, will allow Thales to compete for the different orders of the programme.The selection is for the Rifleman Radio Full Rate Production (FRP) programme, also part of the U.S. Army’s Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Handheld, Manpack and Small-form Fit (HMS) programme.
     
Thales Selected for U.S. Army Rifleman Radio ProgramSoldiers of the US 82nd Airborne Division using a Thales AN/PRC-154 family radio
     

The Army’s projected contract cost through 2025 for radios, accessories, technical support and sustainment, will not exceed $3.9 billion (€3.4 billion).

The Army’s acquisition strategy is to compete individual delivery orders following qualification testing. Testing will be performed on radios delivered under the initial delivery order. Qualified radios are expected
to begin being fielded in 2017.

Thales’s enhanced AN/PRC-154A Rifleman Radio is the most advanced, fielded, and proven soldier radio on the market, delivering voice and data simultaneously. It provides secure, inter-squad, networked
communications and situational awareness to the soldier at the tactical edge of the battlefield, improving mission effectiveness.

Thales has been involved in the development and fielding of the Rifleman Radio since 2004 under Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). The Army has procured more than 21,000 radios to date under the LRIP.

Thales has leveraged over two decades of handheld radio design experience in its latest Rifleman Radio solution, which exceeds the original programme requirements by improving battery life, mission weight, and waveform performance while also enhancing the user interface.