GDMS Selected To Continue Development For SAR Prototype Radios For The USAF

The U.S. Air Force has selected General Dynamics Mission Systems in an early down-select process to be the single developer and provider of the Next Generation Survival Radio (NGSR) for the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense. Coupled with the down-select process, General Dynamics will continue to execute the firm-fixed price Other Transaction Authority contract of $22.2 million through the remaining prototyping effort and then into rapid production. The U.S. Air Force anticipates 48,000 production radios to be delivered across the services through the program.

“This success is representative of the team’s fierce passion and dedication to this critical mission,” said Rachel Oberc, General Dynamics Mission Systems vice president of Network and Communication Systems. “We leveraged 40-plus years of experience in combat search and rescue radios as well as significant investments in usability and resiliency features to overcome emerging near-peer threats. We are proud to deliver a software-defined radio that operates effectively in anti-access and area-denied environments to rescue downed personnel. Above all else, we recognize that this radio must work flawlessly on the very worst day of the user’s life. This reality is what guides our vision and our solution for this radio.”

General Dynamics will complete the current 24-month OTA development contract by delivering 50 prototypes by December 2025. Upon successful prototype development completion, General Dynamics will then transition into a follow-on 18-month Integration, Test and Certification phase beginning in January 2026, potentially followed by low-rate initial production and full-rate production. The NGSR fielding is expected to commence in June 2027.

The NGSR program is an Air Force-led development effort to update and modernize the legacy Combat Survivor Evader Locator architecture. It plans to deliver a secure, end-to-end communications capability supporting the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency combat search and rescue mission to locate, authenticate, and communicate with personnel who become isolated.