Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/18642-harris-receives-orders-for-tactical-communications-from-the-department-of-homeland-security

Harris receives orders for tactical communications from the Department of Homeland Security

November 12, 2012

Harris Corp. has received $7 million in orders to deliver public safety and tactical communications systems to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its component agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Coast Guard. The orders were awarded through the five-year, $3 billion DHS Tactical Communications (TacCom) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle.

Harris will provide the U.S. Coast Guard with Falcon III® AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack tactical radios that will be installed across the Coast Guard fleet to provide interoperable tactical communications with local, state and federal agencies, as well as the Department of Defense.

The AN/PRC-117G radio operates multiple waveforms for narrowband line-of-sight voice and data communications, beyond-line-of-sight satellite communications, communication with public safety agencies, and wideband data communications.

The AN/PRC-117G will be deployed in conjunction with Falcon III® AN/PRC-152A wideband handheld radios to deliver end-to-end wideband capabilities for transmitting voice, video and data across Coast Guard tactical teams.

Separately, Harris also will provide the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) with a standards-based P25 Land Mobile Radio system. The Center, located on Fort McClellan in Alabama, is charged with training first responders in recovery tactics for response to critical homeland security situations. The trunked Harris P25 UHF System will provide coverage across the entire CDP campus, including in-building coverage. The Harris system provides interoperability with local first responders' 800 MHz communication systems.

"The Coast Guard is using this important procurement vehicle to deploy Falcon III radios, while DHS is rapidly implementing a Harris P25 system," said Steve Marschilok, president, Harris Public Safety and Professional Communications. "The TacCom contract highlights Harris' unique capability to deliver powerful solutions that integrate tactical and land mobile radio systems and bridge the needs of civilian and tactical responders."

Harris was selected to provide land mobile and tactical solutions under all five technical categories of the TacCom vehicle, which is mandatory for consideration in the procurement of all tactical communications equipment and services.

The TacCom IDIQ is in place for DHS and partner agencies such as the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the White House Communications Agency.