Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a $75 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract - with an initial delivery order of $8 million - for its Falcon III® AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radios from the U.S. Air Force. The contract and order were received by Harris in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012.

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 mission-critical voice and data applications at the tactical edge, supporting network-enabled missions such as close-air support, precision fires, MEDEVAC and collaborative chat.

“The AN/PRC-117G radio system addresses growing Air Force requirements for multiband, multimode radios that deliver secure access to voice, video and data in real time. The radio provides critical real-time information to warfighters on the move and in the air to achieve unprecedented situational awareness on the battlefield”, said George Helm, President, Department of Defense business, Harris RF Communications.

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.

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.

Harris has shipped more than 16,000 AN/PRC-117G radio systems to the U.S. DoD and allies such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, other NATO nations and Australia. The radio was developed following the JTRS Enterprise Business Model (EBM). The EBM encourages companies to develop next-generation solutions in tactical communications using their own investment capital to integrate JTRS waveform software. In doing so, the EBM stimulates competition, increases innovation, and reduces cost through software re-use.