The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a joint tactical radio system (JTRS) certification to the Harris soldier radio waveform (SRW) v1.01.1 operating Falcon III AN/PRC-117G device.

Certification confirms that the radio has addressed all Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) JTRS established requirements for interoperability and security, and is also compatible with the emerging DoD network objectives.

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The certification process featured seven separate phases, such as testing for waveform conformance and Joint Interoperability Test Center interoperability, National Security Agency information security, programmable cryptography, and compliance from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration spectrum, as well as Software Communications Architecture.

"The certification requirements established will ensure that standards of interoperability, security and software reuse are maintained across the industry."

Harris RF Communications Department of Defense business president George Helm said the JTRS certification process helped DoD customers select a suitable radio for specific mission requirements.

"The certification requirements established will ensure that standards of interoperability, security and software reuse are maintained across the industry," Helm said.

"The process will help to open up competition to drive down costs, accelerate new products to market and foster innovation to better address the needs of the warfighter."

JPEO JTRS brigadier general Michael Williamson said qualification of JTRS waveforms operating on programme of record and non-developmental item software defined radio (SDR) represents a critical step for the DoD to ensure an acceptable risk level for interoperability, security and open standards.

"It will certainly enhance a services’ ability to compete their SDR requirements and select a product that has been proven to meet an acceptable level of risk for interoperability and security, while maintaining non-proprietary open standards," Williamson added.

JTRS Certification forms part of an ongoing process designed to enable competition, while allowing production of low-risk, secure and interoperable tactical networks.

The Falcon III AN/PRC-117G radio is a software-defined, upgradable voice and data platform designed to support network-enabled operations, such as convoy tracking, intelligence reporting and analysis, collaborative chat, route planning and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions.