Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has received $14 million in orders from the Federative Republic of Brazil to provide Falcon III and Falcon II tactical radios to the country's armed forces.
Brazil will deploy the radios in a range of humanitarian, security and disaster relief missions, such as support for the nation of Haiti in its recovery from the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Harris will provide Brazil with the Falcon III RF-7800V Very-High Frequency (VHF) handheld combat net radio, which provides forward-deployed forces with wireless voice and high-bandwidth data communications. The RF-7800V transmits data at rates up to 192 Kbps over the 30 to 108 MHz frequency band at 50 watts of power, making it the fastest VHF combat net radio available.
Harris also will deliver its Falcon II high-frequency manpack radio for enhanced secure beyond-line-of-site communications. HF radios are ideal for communicating in environments with restrictions on line-of-sight, such as mountainous or jungle regions. The radio covers the 1.6 Mhz to 30 Mhz frequency range. Harris also will provide training and customer service field support.
"Harris radios will provide our forces with superior voice and data communications that are significant to the wide variety of missions they face," said Brigade General Antonino dos Santos Guerra Neto, Commander of Communications and Electronic Warfare of the Army of Brazil. "Harris is providing rapid delivery of the equipment and exceptional support in the field and I appreciate their support of our tactical radio modernization programmes."
"Harris was awarded the orders after several months of challenging competitive field trials during which our radios were tested in a variety of environments that are inhospitable to tactical communication," said Andy Start, president, international business, Harris RF Communications. "Our radio passed the test based on vast experiences with tactical communications in more than 150 countries."
Harris RF Communications is the leading global supplier of secure radio communications and embedded high-grade encryption solutions for military, government and commercial organizations. The company's Falcon family of software-defined tactical radio systems encompasses manpack, handheld and vehicular applications.