The AN/PRC-117G Wideband Multiband Multimission Radio, capable of leveraging the MUOS waveform with a software upgrade. Photo: Harris

[Via Satellite 05-21-2015] Harris Corporation reports it successfully conducted satellite communications calls with two Falcon 3 AN/PRC-117G tactical radios using the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform. The demonstration validated the multiband manpack radio’s ability to run the narrowband MUOS service with a software-only upgrade.

The MUOS satellite constellation is the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) next generation military communications system for mobile satellite communications. The system provides users Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) capability to transmit and receive high-quality, prioritized voice and mission data on a high-speed IP-based system.

The completed system will be compatible with the legacy Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite system while providing 16-times its capacity.

Harris has fielded more than 30,000 AN/PRC-117G radios today that are all capable of updating to leverage MUOS. The company is developing the MUOS waveform to operate on multiple other Harris radio hardware platforms including the AN/VRC-118 two-channel, mid-tier networking vehicular radio and the AN/PRC-158 multi-channel manpack radio.