Rockwell Collins Wins $82 Million Navy Radio Support Contract

The Cedar Rapids avionics maker will sustain the Navy's AN/ARC-210 radios through July 2031 under a sole-source deal, with $16.4 million obligated at award.

First Published: August 4, 2026, 1:24 PM ET

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA — Rockwell Collins Inc., the Cedar Rapids avionics maker, won an $82 million Navy contract to keep the fleet’s primary airborne radios flying through 2031, as announced on war.gov.

The five-year, firm-fixed-price award covers logistics, repair and spare support for the AN/ARC-210(V) radio system, including its GEN5 and GEN6 iterations, according to war.gov. The deal carries no option provisions, and $16.4 million in fiscal 2026 Navy working capital funds was obligated at award to fund the first delivery order.

Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia solicited one company for the sole-source requirement under the authority in 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1) and received one offer, according to war.gov. All work will be completed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by July 2031.

The AN/ARC-210 is the standard software-defined radio across Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and allied aircraft, giving the sustainment work reach well beyond a single platform. Sole-source support contracts like this one lock in the original manufacturer as the only supplier able to certify repairs and hold spares, which benefits the contractor and reduces the risk of communication gaps for aircrews.

The award marks the fifth contract to Rockwell Collins in 2026, lifting the company’s total contract value for the year to $688 million. It is the eighth Department of Defense contract awarded in Iowa during 2026. The sum trails the company’s record award of $472.4 million and sits within the 2026 Navy portfolio, which ranged from a year-to-date low near $9 million to a high of $8 billion. It was one of six Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 4, 2026.

For the average reader, the contract touches the machinery of military communications rather than daily household costs. The radios it maintains carry voice and data traffic that pilots and ground controllers rely on during flights and operations, and the funding draws on a revolving working capital account rather than expiring annual appropriations.

Sustainment contracts of this kind have happened before for the AN/ARC-210 line. The radio has moved through successive generations for decades, and manufacturers have repeatedly secured multiyear support deals to repair units and stock spares as older models retire and new ones enter service.

The next milestones fall to the Navy’s contracting activity, which will issue individual delivery orders that define the specific repair and spare work. A date for the first order beyond the initial obligation has not been announced, and work must conclude by July 2031.

Cedar Rapids has anchored American avionics for generations, which isn’t the first time the city’s radios have shaped military communications. Arthur Collins founded Collins Radio there in 1933, and his equipment carried transmissions from Antarctic expeditions to the Apollo missions that reached the Moon in 1969. The firm passed to Rockwell International in 1973 and later became part of RTX, yet the Cedar Rapids plants that once built radios for astronauts still repair the ones that keep today’s aircrews connected.

This contract represents the 5th contract awarded to Rockwell Collins Inc., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $688,078,051. It is also the 8th Department of Defense contract awarded in Iowa during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Rockwell Collins Inc., whose record stands at $472,412,478, it is notable within the Navy portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,046,496 and maximum of $8,000,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 6 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 4, 2026.