Harris Corporation supplying ground-to-air radios to ANG

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The Air National Guard has contracted Harris Corporation for tactical vehicle and public safety radio systems for ground-to-air voice communications.

Each five-channel system, which will also transmit and receive data, includes multiple Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multi-band networking manpack radios, the Harris AN/PRC-150 high-frequency manpack radio and Harris' Unity XG-100M full-spectrum multi-band mobile radio.

Harris said the radios will be networked with the company's RF-7800I vehicular intercom system and integrated into the ANG's Humvee vehicles for use during disaster response operations and for wartime situations.

"The integrated Harris system enables the Air National Guard to quickly establish communications and coordinate activities with local authorities, and rapidly deploy capabilities for tactical operations," said Chris Young, president of Harris Communication Systems. "This system is the first TACP [tactical air control] networked solution in a vehicle, and highlights Harris' unique ability to integrate tactical and land mobile radio systems that bridge the needs of defense and civilian missions."

The contract was announced at the Air Force Association Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Maryland and is worth $17 million.

Harris Corporation, a major supplier of tactical communications systems, has also announced a substantial increase in the value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract it received from the Defense Logistics Agency in 2011.

The original ceiling value of the award was $85 million. It is now $185 million.

Harris said the increase gives the U.S. Army and federal civilian agencies greater flexibility in acquiring spare parts for a wide range of Harris Falcon handheld, manpack and vehicle tactical communications systems.

"The increased ceiling expands our ability to support the mission-critical needs of our customers," Young said. "We continue to provide world-class customer support for the Army and throughout the Department of Defense."