Defense closes urgently with Telefónica and Aicox the purchase of radios for missions for 36 million. €
The teams will go on deployments of the Armed Forces in NATO operations on the border with Russia.
The Ministry of Defense has just closed with the companies Telefónica and Aicox the acquisition of V/UHF SDR (software-defined) radios for the units of the Armed Forces that participate in NATO missions on the allied eastern flank, in the border with Russia.
The contract, with a budget of 36 million -taxes included-, was approved by the Council of Ministers in mid-September and has been urgently processed in less than two months. The acquisition of the radios has been managed through the General Directorate of Armament and Material (DGAM). This body received two offers, the winner of the temporary company union made up of Telefónica and Aicox and others that the award announcement does not reveal.
The tender has been urgently processed, according to the award announcement, “for reasons of public interest and in order to speed up the award in order to celebrate the contract in 2022 to satisfy this urgent need.”
Portable and vehicle radios
The contract includes the acquisition of equipment in the form of portable radios and for its installation in vehicles, including its accessories and the means of installation, management and configuration applications necessary for its commissioning in areas of operations.
Although the resolution does not refer to the model chosen or the number of units, everything indicates that the ministry will continue with the purchase of software-defined radios from the E-Lynx family, a product of the Israeli firm Elbit Systems, which Telefónica and Aicox sell in Spain.
Both companies have already supplied a first batch of this combat radio, of the hand-held type, for deployments in the area of operations. The contract was also awarded by the DGAM to the joint venture formed by the two companies two years ago. This temporary union also won the radio contract for the future 8×8 Combat Vehicle on Wheels (VCR) of the Army in 2021
