Rohde & Schwarz will provide 'turnkey' communications for the Royal Navy's offshore patrol vessels (OPV). Five new-generation Batch 2 OPVs have been ordered by the Navy. Three of these OPVs are expected to be in service by the end of the year.

The company's naval successes in the UK include providing communications solutions to the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Bay Class Vessels, and the Type 26 Global Combat Ship.

Its software defined radios (SDR) are designed for shipborne communications and feature a modular design and a high degree of flexibility. Standards-based and proprietary waveforms make secure, voice and data communications in the HF and VHF/UHF frequency ranges possible. 

The R&S M3SR Series 4100 HF radios are innovative, versatile SDRs that belong to the popular SOVERON radio family, designed for use in permanently connected deployment in beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) communications. They are installed in racks within a ship’s radio room or at a shore station, where they cover long-haul ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications. They support frequency hopping and provide interoperability with tactical radios in HF operating modes.
The R&S M3SR Series 4400 VHF/UHF radios offer military customers line-of-sight communications with a flexible range of applications, NATO and proprietary EPM (ECCM) waveforms. Military data transmission methods such as LINK 11 and LINK 22 are supported. 

Hansjörg Herrbold, vice president market segment Navy, Rohde & Schwarz says the SOVERON family saves on logistics effort and reduces operating costs. “In particular, the costs of warehousing spare parts and of maintenance are reduced tremendously, due to the increased reliability of our products.” In addition, SDRs can be updated using SW updates.