Harris has been awarded a contract to deliver digital radio systems to replace the US Marine Corps’ (USMC) existing radio systems throughout the eastern region of US Marine Corps bases and other locations.
Under the $6m contract, the company will design radio systems, which are based on the latest standard-based digital technology and deploy them at four bases in North Carolina and Georgia, US to support the USMC’s first responders.
Based upon Harris’s project 25, technology standards and Harris’ voice, interoperability, data and access (VIDA) network, the new systems will be used by the first responders to communicate and coordinate with neighbouring civilian agencies more easily than the existing analogue-based solution.
Harris’s VIDA network is a flexible, responsive, expandable and easily upgradeable solution, which can be mixed and matched to provide optimum technology for each user group.
The network solution uses modern internet protocol (IP) architecture to deliver powerful network management tools with more choices for existing applications and peripheral devices such as consoles and mobile data terminals.
Capable of providing secure critical voice and data communications on a single, robust IP network, the solution features end-to-end digital packet-switched IP technology to ensure enhanced efficiency, security and performance.
Additional features of the cost-effective VIDA network radios include software defined radio technology and smart radio technology to enable users to integrate among various systems deployed across a locality or region.
The contract, with a potential value of more than $16m, also includes system design and deployment, equipment, managed services, maintenance and other options for the USMC.
