Army awards L3Harris $95M for multichannel radios

The Army has awarded L3Harris Technology a $95 million contract for multichannel radios as the service plans to move the Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Fit program into full-rate production next fiscal year.

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is for AN/PRC-158 multichannel radios, L3Harris announced in an April 28 press release. The Army plans to purchase 65,000 HMS Manpack radios under the contract.

The service said its acquisition goal is 65,622 Manpack radios and 100,000 Leader radios, which are also a part of the HMS program, and will begin to move into full-rate production in the second quarter of FY-21, according to budget documents.

The AN/PRC-158 radio has a two-channel, software-defined architecture with integrated cross-banding between waveforms, including the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, which is used with Leader radios.

"The software-defined architecture enables flexibility to respond to new and emerging requirements and allows easy porting of new waveforms," the press release states. "The radio is capable of simultaneously handling classified and unclassified data."

The contract will be followed by an operational test that will inform a full-rate production decision for the AN/PRC-158 multichannel radios.