Norway's Radionor sees co-operation in Ukraine ‘far beyond conflict'

A concept graphic of communication using Radionor radio systems in a cross-domain application. (Radionor)

Norwegian technology company Radionor Communications AS sees its co-operation with Ukraine's Ministry of Defence (MoD) as going “far beyond the current conflict” and can deliver its jamming-resistant communication systems in “extremely high volume to our customers on short notice”, Raymond Söderholm, CEO of Radionor, told Janes on 11 July.

The CEO did not provide any further details, including the name of the system, the number of units delivered to Ukraine, or timelines on future deliveries, but said, “Radionor is a long-standing supplier to Ukraine through NATO and EU [European Union] initiatives.”

Radionor will also be opening a service centre in Ukraine, according to a 10 July press release by Ukraine's MoD. The centre will provide maintenance support for its communication systems and training for Ukrainian military personnel, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Defence Valerii Churkin said in the 10 July release following a meeting with Söderholm in Kyiv.

Radionor's communication products have been supplied to 15 NATO customers and Ukraine's defence forces. “Many of them [NATO customers] enhance their networks with our technology and some combine them with legacy NATO-standard technology through system-of-system solutions. Our ITAR [International Traffic in Arms Regulation]-free product is C-band [4–8 GHz],” Söderholm said.

Radionor's digital phased array (DPA) technology sent to Ukraine has narrow, focused antenna beams on both transmitters and receivers for jamming resistance and minimum electromagnetic visibility for a wireless communication system, according to Söderholm. The system has a built-in navigation feature, which allows it to work in global navigation satellite services (GNSS)-denied environment.