Thales has unveiled the first two radios in the company’s new HF XL range of resilient high-data-rate wideband HF radios for command posts deployed by land forces in the theater of operations — these radios are ideally suited to high-intensity, conflict scenarios.
High frequency (HF) transmissions, fully secure and with low operating costs, are still essential for armed forces, particularly in areas with poor satellite coverage (polar regions, for example, or in constrained environments) or where there is a high risk of jamming. However, HF is limited in terms of bandwidth, and can no longer meet the growing needs of armed forces for data exchange.
By developing high-frequency broadband communication capabilities (HF XL), Thales is offering a 10-fold increase in bandwidth and a significant improvement in quality of service, while still benefiting from HF’s advantages of long range and operation in constrained environments.
This technological feat is made possible by a cognitive engine that automatically selects frequencies throughout the communication. Jammed frequencies are automatically rejected and replaced by free frequencies, ensuring link stability and optimized data rates. This makes the radios easy-to-use.
The 1 kW and 400 W radios, fully interoperable with all wideband HF radios, enable deployed command posts to communicate with command headquarters or with other units in remote areas of the theatre of operations, over distances of up to 10,000 km.
To the two stations currently available, 1kW and 400W, new radios for vehicles and soldiers will be added in 2025 to complete the tactical range. In addition to land and naval environments, it is planned tp extend HF XL technology into the aero and infrastructure domains.
“These new radios are the culmination of several years of consistent innovation and design efforts to provide our customers with a mature solution that represents the state of the art in wideband HF technology,” said Christophe Groshenry, Vice-President Radiocommunication Products, Thales