The MXF-400 series of radios-communications for the 21st century

Advances in components and circuit design technologies allow the production of practical and affordable multiband radios which can replace several existing radios and their encryption gear. This results in substantial size and weight reductions which in turn increase the effectiveness of the soldier carrying the radio or the platform on which it is mounted. The paper discusses a family of four radios developed from a common set of modules by Magnavox for sale on an NDI basis. They are intended for manpack, vehicular, fixed station, and airborne use. Standard features include frequency coverage from 30 to 400 MHz, AM, FM, FSK, PSK, and embedded COMSEC. This allows voice and data communication on all current VHF and UHF tactical nets. Options include SINCGARS, Have Quick, and SATURN antiJam, LPI/LPD, 5 kHz, 25 kHz, and DAMA SATCOM, and GPS navigation and timing. The manpack, vehicular, and fixed station radios are in production, while development work continues on the airborne versions. The equipment discussed is: MXF-420 Manpack SATCOM, MXF-430 Tactical Manpack, MXF-440 Airborne SATCOM and MXF-450 Airborne Tactical. Adapters are used to convert the manpack radios to vehicular and fixed station use so that logistics support requirements are reduced by using the same RT-unit to perform a variety of missions