|
|
|
|
![1105 Media [happiness]](/images/ds1_pntmlogo.gif "1105 Media [happiness]") |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
home > September 10, 2007 issue > article
Boeing ramps up production of pilot survival radios
By Greg Slabodkin
Special to Defense Systems
The Defense Department has nearly doubled the number of hand-held survival radios it has bought for aircrews in the event that they are shot down.
DOD recently awarded a fiscal 2007 contract to Boeing to buy Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL) radios and support equipment, which make it quicker and safer to locate and communicate with downed pilots. Historically, DOD’s combat search-and-rescue missions have experienced low success rates because of a limited ability to determine the precise position of endangered personnel.
The $107.7 million contract calls for the production of 15,452 radios along with spares, adapters and batteries.
To date, Boeing has delivered almost 12,000 CSEL radios to the three services — 6,000 to the Army, 4,000 to the Navy and 2,000 to the Air Force. Before the fiscal 2007 order, Boeing had received orders for 16,272 radios and support equipment.
“CSEL is currently operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, and we would expect many of the new units will be deployed there as well,” said Air Force Maj. Charles Leonard, program manager at CSEL’s Joint Program Office.
In December 2005, Central Command, which oversees a region that includes Iraq and Afghanistan, authorized CSEL radios for use in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which has seen the radios prove their worth, program officials say.
Most recently, on July 2, CSEL radios were credited in several published reports with helping to rescue two U.S. Army helicopter pilots who were shot down by insurgents near Baghdad. The pilots survived a hard crash landing and were able to radio for help, which arrived just minutes later when an Apache helicopter with F-16 fighter escort picked them up and flew them to safety.
Boeing cannot discuss details about any rescues involving the technology. However, Mike Bates, the company’s CSEL program manager said, “we can say that the radio has been used on numerous occasions and that the product we built really does what it was intended to do, which is to quickly and securely locate, authenticate and communicate with the downed person on the ground.”
According to Boeing, CSEL radios are the first military search-and-rescue system that provides multisatellite communications and the latest military Global Positioning System module in a small, rugged, lightweight handheld radio.
CSEL radios minimize the search part of a rescue mission by providing recovery forces with precise geo-positioning information and a secure, two-way data communications capability that enables Joint Search and Rescue Centers and recovery forces to locate, authenticate and communicate with isolated personnel in near real time, anywhere in the world.
It provides over-the-horizon beacon operation, and line-of-sight voice communication once rescuers are in range.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
