• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

AN/ARC-222 Airborne VHF SINCGARS Transceiver

The AN/ARC-222 program began at ESC during FY92 with the prototype system originally designated the ARC-XXX VHF AM/FM airborne tactical radio. Officials in the DOD selected this new VHF SINCGARS radio to satisfy the theater Joint Forces Commander's (JFC) requirement for interoperable jam-resistant tactical voice communications. Designs called for the new SINCGARS radio to provide centralized control of air and land situations during combined arms operations. Engineers built the AN/ARC-222 radio to afford critical VHF two-way communications for voice and data over single channels and frequency-hopping modes among Air Force, Army, Special Operations Forces (SOF), and Marine units.

The Air Force Airborne Single-channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) compatible radio (AN/ARC-222) operates SC FM and FH in the 30.000 to 87.975 MHz range and SC amplitude modulation (AM) in the 108.000 to 151.975 MHz frequency range (108.000 to 115.975 receive only). It interfaces with the KY-58 to achieve a COMSEC capability. The airborne radio interfaces with the AN/PSC-2-digital communications terminal (DCT-2) and the improved data modem (IDM) to pass data. Air Force ground units, primarily tactical air control parties (TACPs) and combat control teams (CCTs), employ the Army SINCGARS AN/VRC-89A/90A/91A (RT-1523 (ICOM) radio). The modular control equipment (MCE) facilities located at the control reporting centers (CRCs), control reporting element (CRE), and forward air control party (FACP) utilize the RT-1439 (non-ICOM) radios and interface with external COMSEC devices (KY-58).

The transceiver has a frequency range of 30-174 MHz

• FM: 30-87.95 MHz; AM: 108-155.975 MHz (108 - 115.975 MHz RO)
  
• HI/VHF: 136-173.975 MHz; Maritime: 156.025-162.025 MHz
  
• MXF-626K: 118.0-136.912 MHz

The tranceiver has a channel bandwidth of:

• FM: 2.5 kHz; HI/VHF: 5.0 & 12.5 kHz
  
• Maritime: 57 Preset Channels (4.6 MHz Offsets)
  
• MXF-626K: 8.33 kHz Mode

The AN/ARC-222 is manufactured by Raytheon for the following Air Force platforms: A-10A, AC-130H, AC-130U, C-130J, E-8C, EC-130E, HH-60G, MC-130E, MC-130H, MC-130P, MH-53J, MH-53M, OA-10A, TH-53A.