By Jen DiMascio
The National Security Agency recently certified a Falcon III radio developed by Harris Corp. [HRS] to transmit and receive top-secret information, the company said yesterday.
The recently approved radio–the Falcon III AN/PRC-117G(C)–is a manpack version of the Falcon III AN/PRC-152(C) multi-band handheld and AN/VRC-110 vehicular radios, according to George Helm, vice president and general manager, U.S. Government Products for Harris RF Communications.
This development has the potential to change the way military personnel communicate, Helm said yesterday. For example, the radio can operate on many different channels, eliminating the need for additional radios for different tasks–like a radio for first responders to track a man down. It also operates with higher data rates, an extended range and on a wider frequency range–from 30 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz, he said.
NSA certification is not easy hurdle for a radio. Only two JTRS SCA-compliant radios hold the distinction–the Thales Communications Inc. Joint Tactical Radio System Enhanced MBITR radio (JEM), and the Harris AN-PRC-152, according to the JTRS program web site.
Neither Harris nor Thales has a prime contract under JTRS, the Defense Department’s umbrella program to create a family of software defined radios, but the two companies have emerged as significant players in a secondary market for the radios.
DoD’s new business model for the radios seeks to qualify at least two sources of production for any of the radios under the program. Thales and Harris have been tapped by JTRS as the sources for single-channel handheld radios thus far (Defense Daily, Dec. 14, 2007).
Helm said NSA certification is the final step in being able to market the product as the first radio to make use of wideband networking capability with the Advanced Networking Wideband Waveform (ANW2). The process took between a year and a half and two years.
Harris developed the ANW2 on its own. It provides fast data rates, mobile ad-hoc networking and integrated security, according to a company statement.
According to Helm, it will be able to meet both current and future Defense Department requirements. It can serve as a surrogate for the Soldier Radio Waveform and the Wideband Networking Waveform.
The AN/PRC-117G(C) has a few bells and whistles on its own, according to Harris. The architechture interoperates with radios in the military’s inventory using the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, Havequick II and the High Performance Waveform (HPW). The radio also has a Tactical Satellite capability.
In the future, the company hopes to draw on its experience of porting new waveforms on the radio–pulling in other Joint Tactical Radio System waveforms–like SRW and WNW–when they are ready, Helm said.