Valued at more than $30 million, the U.S. Army has awarded a contract to Harris Corporation, for AN/PRC-117F radios. These are man pack and vehicular multiband, multimission radios that employ software-defined radio (SDR) technology, providing embedded communications security, satellite communications, and electronic counter-countermeasure capabilities. The radio covers 30 MHz to 512 MHz and provides interoperability with ground-based SINCGARS radios as well as ground-to-air radios and long-range, tactical satellite communications.

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SINCGARS is a family of VHF-FM combat net radios that provides the primary means of command and control for infantry, armor and artillery units. This family of radios has been designed on a modular basis to achieve maximum commonality among the various ground and airborne system configurations. A common receiver/transmitter is used in the man pack and in all vehicular configurations.

SINCGARS family of radios have the capability to transmit and receive voice, tactical data and record traffic messages and is consistent with NATO interoperability requirements. The system operates on any of the 2320 channels between 30 MHz and 88 MHz and is designed to survive in a nuclear environment. The radios will support units deployed in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom and are part of the Army's modularity redesign. Modularity is central to all SDRs, including the AN/PRC-117F, and assures that units are interchangeable, scalable, and thereby able to meet the operational needs of combat commanders. This design provides more rapidly deployable forces that better meet combatant commanders' requirements and accelerates fielding of a networked force.

"These radios provide a secure, beyond-line-of-sight communication capability for command and control that is not currently met by the Army's combat net radios," says Dana Mehnert, vice president and general manager of business development and operations, Harris Corporation, RF Communications Division.