Harris Corporation has been awarded a $37.8 million contract from the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) for more than 1,300 Falcon III dual AN/PRC-152 Multiband Handheld Radio and Vehicular Adapter Amplifier systems. Deliveries of the radios are expected to be completed by June 2006.
"The AN/PRC-152 vehicular radio systems will allow the U.S. Army to have the vehicular radio functionality and output power that they rely on for long-range communications, with the portability of a tactical handheld for quick-dismount scenarios," said Dana Mehnert, vice president and general manager of U.S. Government Products, Harris RF Communications Division.
The AN/PRC-152 can easily be upgraded to provide additional capabilities in the future utilizing the Software Communications Architecture (SCA) and the Harris Sierra II software programmable encryption module. The AN/PRC-152 is the first NSA-certified radio to implement the SCA.
In order to facilitate integration with the customer's legacy systems, Harris designed the AN/PRC-152 radio systems to be compatible with the Army's existing vehicular mounts and cables. In its vehicular configuration, the AN/PRC-152 consists of a multiband handheld radio transceiver, a 50-watt, long-range power amplifier, and an integrated handheld battery charger.
As delivered the AN/PRC-152 provides interoperability with key waveforms, including SINCGARS, HAVEQUICK II and VHF/UHF AM & FM. With the AN/PRC-152 mounted in the vehicular adapter amplifier, the system provides a 50-watt output in the VHF (30 – 90 MHz) band. Multiband operation is made simple with a separate antenna port for the 90 – 512 MHz band.
