US Marine Corps places order for Ultra Orion radio systems
The US Marine Corps Systems Command has placed a $31 million order for Ultra Orion X500 radio systems under the Line of Sight Radio System (LRS) Project, the company announced on 21 September.
The LRS project aims to replace legacy AN/MRC-142 and WPPL radio platforms, making the USMC a new primary user of the Orion X500 radio system.
The Orion radio system is a software-defined, multi-channel, multi-band, MIMO radio platform that enables a Unified Heterogeneous Wireless Network (HETNET) capable of supporting a range of user requirements and resilient network operations.
The USMC order will be placed under the $497 million indefinite award/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract awarded to Ultra TCS earlier in 2019 in support of the US Army’s TRILOS Radio Program of Record.
Ultra TCS recently signed a separate contract with the US Navy with the announcement of the ATCS contract in August of 2020.
In a statement, Ultra said that adoption of the Orion by the USMC would ensure interoperability with other deployed communications assets already in use across the Department of Defense.
‘The Marine Corps chose the Orion for its small size, power and weight, its high-bandwidth capacity and long-range line-of-sight communications capabilities as well as its ability to be rapidly deployed,’ the company said in a press release.
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