ROCHESTER, N.Y., 19 Feb. 2009. Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, has received an $18 million order from the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command's Battlefield Air Operations office for the Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-117G wideband tactical radio system. The Air Force is acquiring the AN/PRC-117G to expand the use of high-bandwidth data applications.
The Falcon III AN/PRC-117G is the first JTRS-approved tactical radio to offer reliable and secure access to high-bandwidth applications -- such as streaming video, reconnaissance information, and biometrics -- in addition to narrowband legacy waveforms. The radio is certified by the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) as compliant with Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) military standards and upgradeable to access the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), both for transmitting high-bandwidth voice and data over tactical military satellites. The AN/PRC-117G includes a Remote Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) interoperable mode that provides Air Force personnel on the battlefield with the ability to receive live video directly from unmanned aerial vehicles systems (UAVs). This capability allows a dismounted soldier to carry only one radio in situations where two radios were previously required. The AN/PRC-117G previously received Type-1 information security certification from the National Security Agency.
"The AN/PRC-117G will provide the Air Force with significantly advanced communications capabilities in a smaller package, which is increasingly important in today's mobile warfighting environment," said Dana Mehnert, president, Harris RF Communications. "This radio will allow Air Force personnel to better manage the battle by providing simultaneous voice, data and text capability. The radio is half the weight of the legacy radios currently fielded, significantly lightening the soldier's load, and offers a high degree of mobility, security, and survivability."
The AN/PRC-117G offers an extended frequency range of 30 MHz to 2 GHz. The radio currently runs the Harris Advanced Networking Wideband Waveform (ANW2) and is designed for future upgrade to the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW). Both waveforms provide advanced networking capability to the battlefield. The radio delivers IP data to the tactical Internet at on-air rates of up to 5 Mbps.
