The Finnish defense forces have started receiving the first handheld radios from Finnish technology company Bittium under a contract signed in December 2018.
The deal includes deliveries of Tough SDR handheld and vehicular radios and their accessories and has a value of approximately EUR 10.5 million.
Bittium noted it would start vehicular radio deliveries during the second half of this year.
The company’s Tough SDR radios enable broadband data transfer and the radios support the reformed combat doctrine of the Finnish defense forces. At the first phase, the radios will be used by the army, replacing the analogue field radios in phases.
A part of the performance of the software defined radios will be created through the waveform software used in the radio. This way the performance of the radios can be developed throughout their whole life cycle with software development.
According to the agreement from 2018, the Finnish defense forces have an option to purchase additional tactical radios and their accessories, training and system management for the use of the army, air force and navy. The options on the contract have a total value of approximately EUR 207 million.
