Sweden and Finland order HF manpack radios hardened ‘against jamming and interception'

KNL's software-defined CNHF manpack radio. (KNL)

Telenor subsidiary KNL's Cognitive Networked High Frequency (CNHF) manpack radios ordered by the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) and the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) are designed for “strong resilience against jamming and interception”, Toni Lindén, KNL CEO, told Janes on 27 August.

The CNHF manpack is a portable HF transceiver, which operates across the 1.6–54 MHz range and uses KNL's cognitive wideband HF waveform. While not detailing the specialist waveform or the classification levels the radios operate at, Lindén said the waveform adapts to spectrum conditions and utilises “extremely fast link establishment over HF”.

The manpack supports more than 4,000 HF and very-high-frequency (VHF) channels simultaneously, according to KNL. With automatic frequency hopping on detection of interference, a new link is established in 0.5 seconds, according to the company. The radios operate in global navigation satellite services (GNSS)-denied environments and the system includes electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM).

The radios integrate into command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) networks via Internet Protocol (IP)-over-HF, said Lindén. They also provide the following connectivity options: ethernet, built-in wireless local area network (WLAN), and virtual private network (VPN) support, according to KNL. The radios' IP capabilities work alongside interfaces like Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP).

In addition to multihop networking and adaptive frequency management, the manpack radio can be used to establish independent communication networks ranging from a few kilometres in distance to thousands of kilometres, according to Lindén and KNL.