Posted by Courtney E. Howard
MELBOURNE, Fla., 11 March 2011. Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, won $11 million in orders from the French Procurement Agency (Direction Generale de l'Armement – DGA) for its Falcon III multiband manpack and handheld tactical radios.
Harris will provide French forces with its AN/PRC-117G wideband networking radios, associated AN/VRC-114 vehicular amplifier adapters, and other accessories. The AN/PRC-117G provides mobile ad-hoc networking to both dismounted and vehicular users. The first deployment will be to French forces in Afghanistan in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for interoperability with other coalition members. France is the fifth country, including the United States, to adopt the AN/PRC-117G to provide next-generation wideband networking communication capabilities.
France has also acquired Falcon III AN/PRC-152(C) tactical handheld radio systems. The AN/PRC-152(C) is the most widely deployed Software Communications Architecture-compliant handheld radio, with more than 130,000 units deployed around the world, according to a representative.
"The growing adoption of Falcon III tactical radios internationally is driving significant new communication capabilities to more forces at the tactical edge," says Andy Start, president, international business unit, Harris RF Communications. "The Falcon III platform provides interoperable voice and wideband data communications, delivering enhanced situational awareness and new command and control capabilities that are critical for mission success on today's battlefield."
The AN/PRC-117G radio provides warfighters with unprecedented situational awareness of the battlefield by enabling applications, such as streaming video, simultaneous voice and data feeds, collaborative chat, and connectivity to secure networks. The wideband networking capabilities of the AN/PRC-117G give warfighters critical real-time information through a man-portable radio that is smaller and lighter than previous radios.
The AN/PRC-152(C) provides handheld communications capabilities for portable line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight applications. The radio also serves as the dismountable transceiver in the AN/VRC-110 vehicular amplifier adapter system.
