General Dynamics Mission Systems announced that it was awarded a $22.2 million contract for the Next Generation Survivor Radio (NGSR) program. The firm-fixed price Other Transaction Authority contract was one of two awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hill Air Force Base in February. The period of performance is 24 months.

“We will leverage our 40+ years of experience in combat search and rescue to deliver a software-defined radio with extensive NSA certifications that will provide U.S. forces with secure, over-the-horizon, two-way data communications,” said Rachel Oberc, General Dynamics Mission Systems vice president for RF Systems. “These radios will operate in anti-access and area denial environments by providing low probability of intercept/low probability of detection communications to downed personnel.”

The NGSR program is an Air Force-led development effort to update and modernize the legacy Combat Survivor Evader Locator architecture. It plans to deliver a secure, end-to-end communications capability supporting the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency combat search and rescue mission to locate, authenticate and communicate with personnel who become isolated.

General Dynamics will deliver 50 prototype radios during the 24-month contract. The Air Force expects to down-select to a single vendor following the initial contract and then go into an 18-month test and certification phase, with full-scale production to follow.