The U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Germany of High-Frequency, Very-High Frequency, and Ultra-High Frequency Radios and related equipment for an estimated cost of $281 million. The Government of Germany has requested to buy AN/PRC-117 radios; AN/PRC-160 radios; spare and repair parts; support equipment; tools and test equipment; diagnostic equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance; technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is $281 million.
This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of a NATO Ally that is an important force for political and economic stability in Europe. The proposed sale will improve interoperability between Germany and other NATO military forces and will increase secure communications effectiveness to help combat current and future threats. Germany will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces. The principal contractor will be L3Harris Global Communications, Inc., Rochester, NY. There are no known offset agreements in connection with this potential sale.
The AN/PRC-117 translates to “Army/Navy, Portable, Radio, Communication”. It is a man-portable, tactical software-defined combat-net radio, manufactured by Harris Corporation, in two different versions: AN/PRC-117F Falcon II MBMMR (Multiband Multimission Manpack Radio) and AN/PRC-117G Falcon III MNMR (Multiband Networking Manpack Radio), also referred to as AN/PRC-117G-MP. Both radios have NSA certification for the transmission of voice and data traffic up to the Top Secret level. The designation AN/PRC signifies “Army Navy / Portable Radio Communications” and is based on the Joint Electronics Type Designation System guidelines. The radios are also provided in a vehicular configuration under the AN/VRC-103 nomenclature.
The AN/PRC-160 Wideband HF/VHF Manpack Radio is a tactical HF/VHF manpack radio manufactured by L3Harris. The PRC-160 is the manpack HF radio for the Harris Falcon III family of radios. It replaces the earlier AN/PRC-150, with a smaller form factor and lighter weight than its predecessor, and being capable of 4th Generation Automatic Link Establishment (4G ALE), achieving data transmission speeds up to 10 times faster. The AN/PRC-160 began production in 2017 as the HF manpack component to the Harris Falcon III ecosystem of tactical radios. Several DoD contracts have since been signed by branches of the US military. The PRC-160 represents what is often called a “renaissance” for HF radio technology thanks to its improvements in data transmission speed over previous generations of HF radios.
