16:41 GMT, March 15, 2010 Fleet, UK | Royal Air Force pilots flying Sea King HAR 3 helicopters are to get new state of the art radios which will maintain the RAF’s airborne Search and Rescue capability until the aircraft goes out of service. The new radios will replace the obsolete ARC-115 VHF and ARC-116 UHF Air Traffic Control radios, which have been installed since the aircraft was built.

The MoD has procured over 40 R&S M3AR series radios from Rohde & Schwarz Ltd to equip the Sea King HAR 3 fleet and the training Flight Simulator.

Based on software defined radio technology, the R&S M3AR’s are multi-band transceivers covering the 30 to 400 MHz range and can be set up for either 8.33 KHz or 25 KHz channel spacing. They provide a completely future-proofed investment for customers. Meanwhile, pilots will appreciate the R&S M3AR Series’ excellent voice quality, simplicity of operation and channel setting features, which have the potential to reduce their mission workload.

Tony Arnold, the Sea King Project Team Project Officer commented: "In addition to providing reliable Air Traffic Control communications, the new radios will provide aircrew with new voice communications capabilities in the VHF Land and Maritime Frequency Bands. The Sea King Project Team’s holistic approach to the HAR 3’s obsolescence problems has also resulted in a modification that introduces a fully integrated and state of the art communications and Homing System that will take the aircraft through to the end of its service life. This will save the MoD circa £2M before the 2017 aircraft Out of Service Date."

Keith Randall, Rohde & Schwarz UK’s Sales Manager for Radio Communications noted: "Rohde & Schwarz’ R&S M3AR VHF/UHF Airborne Transceivers are the product of decades of experience in the design and development of airborne radio equipment. They were an ideal choice for the Sea King MK 3s due to their low cost of ownership and drop-in compatibility with the ARC-115/116s. This made them straightforward and cost-effective to integrate."