Posted by Courtney Howard
ROCHESTER, N.Y., 6 May 2010. Harris Corp. won an $11 million order to provide Falcon tactical radio systems to a Partnership for Peace nation participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
This order will result in one of the largest deployments of the Harris RF-7800S radio to that country, says a Harris representative.
NATO and Partnership for Peace countries have standardized on the Harris Falcon family of radios, to improve communications interoperability during coalition operations. These countries consult on national security issues and their forces interact frequently during combined military exercises and NATO-led missions.
Harris will supply Falcon III RF-7800S Secure Personal Radios, a lightweight "wearable" radio that provides individual warfighters with voice and wideband data communications. Designed to address soldier system communication requirements, the RF-7800S operates in the 350- to 450-MHz frequency band. The radio provides more than two kilometers range over open terrain, and penetrates buildings and dense foliage.
Harris also is providing Falcon II RF-5800M multiband manpack and handheld radios for line-of-sight terrestrial communications and Falcon II RF-5800H high-frequency radios for beyond line-of-sight communications, along with data terminals, accessories, spare parts and services.
Falcon II RF-5800M transceivers are software-programmable radios, supporting continuous VHF/UHF operation across the 30 to 512 MHz bandwidth. These radios operate in multiple waveforms and encryption modes, making them suitable for ground-to-air and ground-to-ground applications.
The Harris Falcon II RF-5800H HF radio provides secure beyond-line-of-sight radio communications in demanding battlefield environments. These radios feature Third Generation-Automatic Link Establishment (3G-ALE), integrated data link protocols, and embedded GPS receivers.
