Special Operations awards $390M radio contract

The command gives Harris Corp. a 6-year deal for specialized tactical communications hand held radios.

U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded Harris Corp. RF Communications Division a six-year, maximum $390 million contract for specialized tactical communications hand-held radios.

The devices are intended to provide Special Operations Forces with “a family of small, lightweight, easily upgradeable, tactical, multiband, multifunction, multi-mission devices enabling [Special Operations Force] teams to communicate over a frequency range,”  according to the solicitation for the contract.

The radios would be available in both urban and maritime environments with the maritime variant capable of being submersed to 20 meters in salt water for two hours.   

The radios, the solicitation said, will be inter/intra team devices capable of line-of sight and beyond line-of-sight communications, as well as operating in a mobile ad-hoc network. They’ll have simultaneous two-channel communication (one wideband channel and one narrowband channel) with an integrated military Selective Availability Anti-spoofing Module GPS receiver. They also will have the ability to receive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance video, either integrated into the radio or as a separate mission module, the solicitation said.

The contract is for five years with a one-year option.