Harris receives USAF manpack order

Harris Corporation has announced that it has been awarded a contract from the US Air Force (USAF) for the delivery of its Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radios. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, worth $75 million, has an initial delivery order of $8 million, and was announced 14 May, 2012.

According to Harris, the air force is acquiring the AN/PRC-117G radios to provide next-generation wideband tactical communications to combat controllers and other ground personnel. The radios enable voice and data applications at the tactical edge, supporting network-enabled missions such as close-air support, precision fires, MEDEVAC and collaborative chat.

Software-defined and upgradeable, the AN/PRC-117G supplies mobile ad-hoc networking, as well as voice and high-bandwidth data applications. These capabilities support network-enabled missions such as intelligence reporting and analysis, route planning, MEDEVAC, convoy tracking, and checkpoint biometrics. At about half the size of previous manpack radios, the AN/PRC-117G ‘delivers vast improvements in power, as well as size and weight’.

According to Harris, the AN/PRC-117G is ‘the first JTRS Software Communications Architecture-certified and NSA Type-1 certified wideband manpack radio system’. With its ‘fully integrated and NSA-certified High Assurance Internet Protocol Equipment (HAIPE) networking encryption, the AN/PRC-117G provides the highest level of information assurance to tactical units.’