USAF buys thousands more Combat Survivor Evader Locator radios from Boeing to rescue isolated military personnel

Boeing will deliver an additional 2,550 Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL) radios — which are vital to the rescue of downed pilots and other warfighters in dangerous situations — under a new $24 million contract with the U.S. Air Force.

A global emergency call system that enables the safe, fast and efficient recovery of warfighters in harm’s way, CSEL is used by the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy for search-and-rescue operations. The system consists of hand-held radios, over-the-horizon relays and other ground and user equipment.

“CSEL radios have proven themselves to be instrumental in helping locate isolated personnel and getting them out of danger,” said Steve Capps, Boeing’s CSEL program manager. “Wherever they fight, our forces can depend on CSEL for secure satellite communications, line-of-sight voice connectivity, global position and navigation information, and beacon functions.”

Boeing has delivered some 55,000 CSEL radios to date. The new deliveries are scheduled for 2014 and 2015. Boeing also received separate contracts to enhance the capabilities and information security of the global CSEL base-station network.

“CSEL minimizes the search aspect of a rescue mission by providing recovery forces with precise geo-positioning information and secure, over-the-horizon and line-of-sight, two-way data communications capabilities,” explains a Boeing product sheet. “These capabilities enable Joint Personnel Recovery Centers (JPRCs) and recovery forces to locate, authenticate, and communicate with Isolated Personnel (IP) in near real-time, anywhere in the world.”