Army orders Falcon III HMS radios from Harris

Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has issued a delivery order to the Harris Corporation for multi-channel Falcon III HMS manpack radios to support two major test events.

The value of the order, received in the company's first quarter of fiscal year 2018, was not disclosed in a company news release. The release also didn't offer any details as to how many radios were ordered.

"The Army is partnering with Harris to modernize its communication capabilities to support the growing need for information on the battlefield," said Brendan O'Connell, president of Tactical Communications at Harris Communication Systems. "The HMS Manpack is critical to these modernization efforts and gives warfighters a tactical advantage."

The manpack radios come in configurations for dismounted and mounted troops. It is one of three radios the Army selected for evaluation during field-based risk-reduction and operational testing.

Harris said the Army order includes vehicle installation kits, ancillaries, training and field service representative support.

The Falcon III HMS features a two-channel, software-defined architecture with integrated cross-banding. Its waveforms include SRW, SINCGARS and MUOS SATCOM. It also maintains interoperability with legacy waveforms.

Harris said the systems will be delivered to the Army next spring.