Army Selects Cubic for Software-Based Radio Prototyping; Mike Knowles Quoted

Cubic has received a $7.5M contract to build and demonstrate a prototype software-defined radio intended to support coordination of unmanned aircraft systems in flight.

The company said Monday it will equip the SDR technology with a modern communications waveform as part of a project to help the service branch create a next-generation data link for UAS operations and the teaming of manned and unmanned platforms.

Mike Knowles, president of Cubic's mission and performance solutions segment, said the business will work with the Army to incorporate protected communications technologies into a “deployment-ready form factor to meet warfighter needs.”

Contract work involve flight-testing the prototype and the company noted it expects data from the tests to support development of waveform specifications.