The German Navy has turned to Rohde & Schwarz to equip its NH90 Multi-Role Frigate Helicopters (MRFH) with SOVERON family airborne radios that contain embedded COMSEC.

This comes as the German Navy is set to receive 31 MRFH, a naval variant of NH90. These helicopters are used to provide close-range protection, ASuW and ASW, transport, as well as for search and rescue missions.

Each of the copters will have three VHF/UHF transceivers, as well as spare components.

SOVERON airborne transceiver leverages NATO-standardised communications algorithms for naval applications.

The interfaces of the transceiver can connect external devices or an external encryption device and guard the naval distress frequency.

Rohde & Schwarz market segment avionics vice-president Stefan Pleyer said: “We are very proud to have our equipment deployed on this major naval asset of our national customer.

“With 8,000+ SOVERON family airborne radios in use worldwide on over 70 different airborne platforms, we ensure that we deliver a safe, future-ready investment for today’s navies on time and on budget.”

In another development, Rolls-Royce has announced that its business unit Power Systems will deliver automation solutions for four new F126 German Navy frigates.

As agreed, Power Systems will deliver an Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) as well as a Condition Monitoring System (CMS).

Rolls-Royce will also provide its mtu NautIQ Master and mtu NautIQ Foresight products, as part of the delivery.

In October last year, Rolls-Royce opened a manufacturing, repair and test facility at its campus in Walpole, Massachusetts, to support US Navy programmes.