Harris Corp. delivers wideband networking to U.S. Army network integration evaluation

Posted by Courtney E. Howard

WHITE SANDS, N.M., 18 July 2011. Harris Corp. (NYSE:HRS), an international communications and information technology company, is delivering its Falcon III AN/PRC-117Gtactical radio system to the U.S. Army. The company’s tactical radio will provide combat-proven wideband networking capability to the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) at Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

The NIE, the first in a series of semi-annual evaluations designed to integrate and mature the Army's tactical network, involves tests and evaluations among five programs of record and 30 emerging or developmental technologies. All 3,800 soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division are taking part in the NIE. The event combines test and evaluation in a single venue, in an attempt to speed the deployment of an integrated battlefield network.

The NIE will evaluate existing network capabilities, including the Harris AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack tactical radio system. For the NIE, Harris is deploying a 20- and 30- Node wideband AN/PRC-117G network, powered by its Adaptive Networking Wideband Waveform (ANW2). The radio network connects military vehicles to company command post platforms, providing access to applications, such as TIGR, FTP, and combat chat.

The Army's objective is to assess and collect data on the AN/PRC-117G's wideband networking performance.

"The NIE is a unique event designed to push systems to the limit," describes Maj. Gen. Dennis Moran (Ret.), vice president, Government Business Development, Harris RF Communications. "Over the course of the exercise, the AN/PRC-117G has successfully delivered outstanding mobile ad-hoc networking capability to a range of vehicular-based forces. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Army on behalf of soldiers, including the upcoming certification and release of the DoD's new Soldier Radio Waveform in our AN/PRC-117G radios."

Also under evaluation at the NIE is the RF-7800W High-Capacity Line-of-Sight radio (HCLOS), designed to deliver quick-to-deploy, point-to-point, or point-to-multipoint wireless Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure. The Army is using the RF-7800W during the evaluation to provide remote video feeds to command posts, battalions, and headquarters installations.