Namibian company Sat-Com is manufacturing hundreds of radios for the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) and recently received an export order for several hundred as it markets its range across Africa.
Gerhard Mohrmann, Project Implementation Engineer at Sat-Com, told defenceWeb that his company began developing military radios some 15 years ago at the request of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF), which wanted a radio suited to its requirements and able to be easily maintained and repaired. At first VHF man portable radios were produced, then HF radio manufacturing began around seven years ago.
The company’s latest product is the 2 kg Cheetah 3 handheld wideband VHF/UHF radio. GPS/GLONASS receivers are integrated into the radio. Features include fast frequency hopping (FFH), encryption, ECCM capabilities and a data modem/texting capability. Sat-Com said the radio works in -30 to 65 degree temperatures and is shock and vibration resistant. Battery life is around 30 hours. Sat-Com has a three-year contract to deliver hundreds to the NDF.
Sat-Com’s Leopard manpack wideband military radio, already in service with the NDF, covers the HF, VHF and UHF bands and features a built-in modem and GPS receiver. Features include Automatic Link Establishment, Frequency Hopping and One Time Pad encryption. The 3.2 kg radio covers the spectrum from 1.5 MHz to 512 MHz and distinguishes automatically between voice and data communication. Accessories include a power amplifier, various antennas, internal modem and backpack, amongst others.
“With these two radios we cover the entire range of military requirements,” Mohrmann said, including ground, air and naval communications. Apart from Namibia, he said that Sat-Com has an international export customer and has a number of sales demonstrations planned.
Mohrmann said the company’s first export order was for a few hundred radios. He said Sat-Com was the main Namibian high tech export company and recently upgraded its factory to produce between 500 and 1 000 radios a year.
