
Modern airborne radios based on software-defined, multiband design, with extensive reserve capacity for the future.
BAE Systems’ next-generation Starfire™ product line radios provide secure anti-jam, voice, and data communications in a compact radio set. Based on a common processor architecture, the Starfire™ family of software-defined radio (SDR) communications systems enable software-only upgrades. These modern radios are the same form factor and provide extensive reserve capacity to support a cost-effective path to future enhancements for fixed- and rotary-wing platforms.
Starfire products:
- AN/ARC-164A, MXF-4059 Radio
- AN/ARC-232A, MXF-4058 Radio
Future products:
- AN/ARC-231, MXF-4000 Series Radio
- AN/ARC-222, MXF-626N Radio
Features
- Baseline configured for heritage frequency bands, AM/FM, voice and data with air traffic control, maritime and hailing modes, as well as 8.33 kHz, 5 kHz and 25 kHz channel spacing with frequency range extendable to 2 GHz.
- Supports heritage and new ancillary devices such as controls, mounts, antennas, external cryptographic units (KY-58/M, KY/SY-100/M, others), and embedded, commercial, software based encryption options.
- Ethernet control and maintenance interface compatibility with USB, MIL-STD-1553, RS-422/232.
Benefits
- Qualified to military standards for domestic and international interoperability for NATO and coalition military airborne applications.
- Designed with reserve capacity for future enhancements such as civil communications, APCO 25, and TETRA.
- Supports retransmission in repeater and cross-banding modes of main and independent guard receivers improving interoperability.
- Software programmability permits a broad range of configurations with or without electronic counter-counter measures (ECCM) such as SATURN, HAVE QUICK, SINCGARS, or a national ECCM.