Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has reportedly been awarded a $419 million basic purchasing agreement contract to supply the U.S. Army with Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband tactical manpack radios and vehicular power-amplifier adapter systems.

The company officials said that the initial delivery order under the contract is valued at $165 million for manpack and vehicular radio systems and support services. 

Additionally, Radio systems from this order will be deployed by the Army for missions worldwide to provide next-generation, high-speed tactical satellite and voice-and-data communications.

“We are pleased to continue providing the Army with our most advanced tactical manpack radio,” Dana Mehnert, group president, Harris RF Communications, said. 

Mehnert said that the AN/PRC-117G has comprehensive multi-mission capabilities to address the full spectrum of the U.S. Army's current tactical communications requirements. This radio is upgradeable to meet future JTRS requirements such as the Mobile User Objective System for satellite communications, Mehnert said.

Giving details, the company officials said that the field-proven AN/PRC-117G manpack radio is about half the size of currently fielded multiband systems and offers an extended frequency range of 30 MHz to 2 GHz. 

Officials said that with its fully integrated and NSA-approved High Assurance Internet Protocol Equipment waveform, the AN/PRC-117G manpack interfaces seamlessly to the Government's Secure Internet Protocol Router Network, or “SIPRNet.” This capability enables direct classified calls and data exchanges between Pentagon commanders and units at the lowest tactical levels of the battlefield.

The radio is Type-1 certified by NSA to carry voice-and-data traffic up to and including Top Secret levels. 

Earlier this month, Harris Corporation was awarded a potential three-year, $7.5 million contract to provide technical and support services, including information assurance, development testing, configuration management and training, for the U. S. Air Force Air Mobility Command's command and control systems.