Harris awarded $25 million contract by Northrop Grumman for communications backbone of Army Battle Command System

Highband networking radios from Harris Corporation will form the communications backbone of the US Army's new Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS). As a member of Northrop Grumman's IBCS team, Harris will supply its radios to carry critical battle-command information, and will provide system and network engineering services over the five-year life of the program.

IBCS will integrate the fire-control networks of current and future air and missile defense systems. This command system will enable warfighters to use any combination of sensors and weapons to achieve mission objectives in a true open-architecture environment.

The unique design of the Harris Highband Networking Radio(tm) (HNR) ensures all information from the battle command center will arrive at the right location to defend troops against a missile attack. This radio includes the first-ever use of directive beam technology to achieve higher throughput over longer distances in a robust, self-forming and self-healing directional mesh network. The Harris HNR system is a part of the US Army's WIN-T Increment 2 program.

"Designed from the ground up to support the networked battlefield, our Highband Networking Radio will provide the solid, yet mobile, communications backbone required to ensure critical information on the IBCS reaches the right location at the right time," said Wes Covell, president, Harris Defense Programs. "We are proud to support the US Army in the development of this transformational system."

Systems that will be integrated via IBCS include:

* Patriot, Surface-Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (SLAMRAAM).

* Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor (JLENS).

* Improved Sentinel Radar.

* And - if the US Department of Defense directs the inclusion - Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS).

Source: Harris Corporation