Army, Marines buying leads of radios.

In response to booming Army and Marine Corps tactical radio orders, manufacturers rapidly are expanding their production capacity to meet this extraordinary demand, industry officials said.

The most dramatic example of the recent surge in radio purchases is the single channel ground and airborne radio system, or SINCGARS. This combat net radio has been widely used throughout the military services for command-and-control operations during the past two decades, it handles both voice and data communications.

The Army currently owns 250,000 SINCGARS and is likely to order more than 200,000 additional radios in the next several years to equip the entire force. The National Guard alone has unfilled SINCGARS requirements worth $400 million.

The manufacturer, ITT Industries, received a $2.5 billion contract last year, of which $500 million worth of orders the Army already has exercised, said company spokesman John Kirkwood. ITT is delivering 3,000 radios a month, he said. "And we still have extra capacity."

The Army, however, determined that ITT's line alone was not sufficient to meet its needs, and decided to order additional radios from Thales Communications. An industrial survey by the Army's Communications and Electronic Command concluded that ITT wasn't producing radios quickly enough, industry sources said.

To supplement the SINCGARS radios, the Army ordered from Thales the so-called multi-band inter-intra team radio (MBITR) vehicular adapter amplifiers, which are installed on existing SINCGARS mounting trays on military vehicles, said Army spokesman Tim Rider. The adapter/amplifier functions like the standard vehicular AN/VRC-92 SINCGARS. The Army will be spending $110 million on these radios, according to Rider.

Military radio orders have soared in recent years, said Felix Boccadoro, director of business development at Thales. The company currently is producing 3,000 radios a month for all its Defense Department contracts, compared to 600 two years ago.

The Marine Corps also is stocking up on new tactical radios. After the invasion of Iraq, the Corps realized it lacked small squad-level communications for urban operations. Marines liked the U.K. Army's "personal role radio" and bought 10,000 from the British Army's war reserve. The PRR is a small transmitter-receiver that allows infantry soldiers to communicate over short distances--even through thick cover or walls--without shouting, hand signals or relaying messages.

The Marines now are looking for a long-term replacement for the PRR, which received mostly favorable reviews from the field, but still falls short in some areas, said James Lasswell, technical director of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. The Corps would like a handheld radio that offers a longer range than the PRR's 500 meters, and also one that provides more secure encryption.

Contractors were asked this summer to submit bids for an integrated intra squad radio, or IISR. The Marine Corps is expected to buy anywhere between 6,000 to 60,000 radios. Industry insiders expect an award by the end of September.

The funds for these radios are included in the fiscal year 2005 emergency war appropriations for the Defense Department, and if the Corps fails to commit the money before the end of September, it would risk having the Navy Department reallocate the funds to other programs.

A spokesman for the Marine Corps Systems Command declined to comment on the IISR program, citing the ongoing competition. An industry official said the desired price range for these radios is from $1,200 to $2,000 per unit. By comparison, the MBITR costs about $5,000. The Marines, the official said, are looking for a radio that is rugged enough to last for many years.

The specifications listed in the IISR solicitation are, to the surprise of industry experts, quite ambiguous about the performance requirements. It's not clear whether certain specs, such as size or weight, are required or optional.

Radio manufacturers can anticipate a healthy flow of radio orders for at least several more years. The fiscal year 2006 war supplemental is expected to include at least $1.2 billion for tactical radios.