The U.S. Marine Corps recently awarded Harris Corp. a $75 million order to provide Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) narrowband satellite communication upgrades.
The order, part of a five-year Navy Portable Radio Program contract awarded in 2017, will upgrade the Falcon III AN/PRC-117G manpack radio fleet.
The radio allows users to increase capabilities economically by adding new waveforms.
The upgrade will allow the radios to communicate with the advanced MUOS satellite constellation. Upgrading also will increase the environments where the radios operate and will
enhance voice and data communication.
“Adding this capability to the 117G will enable the Marines to leverage the proven radios they have already deployed, fought and trained with to access the advanced capabilities and capacity of the MUOS satellites with a simple software upgrade,” Dana Mehnert, Harris Communication Systems president, said. “The MUOS upgrade also will enable interoperability with other U.S. (Department of Defense) and allied users who deploy this advanced capability in the future.”
Harris Corp. is located in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region of New York. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the order would be a benefit to the region’s economy.
Harris has approximately $6 billion in annual revenue.
The 2019 Defense Appropriations bill provided funding for the upgrades.