24 Aug 05. Harris Corporation has received certification from the National Security Agency (NSA) for its new multiband, multimission Falcon(R) III Handheld tactical radio. Along with this certification, the radio has received its official U.S. Government nomenclature: AN/PRC-152. The AN/PRC-152 utilizes the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Software Communications Architecture(SCA) and is the first radio utilizing the JTRS SCA operating environment to receive NSA certification for the protection of voice and data traffic up through the TOP SECRET level.

“The AN/PRC-152 is a next-generation, multiband handheld radio that offers our military users all of the capability they need to meet urgent operational requirements today while facilitating the transition to JTRS,” said Dana Mehnert, vice president and general manager of U.S. Government Products, Harris RF Communications Division. “These new capabilities include
programmable communications security (COMSEC) and the Software Communications Architecture (SCA) to allow the addition of future JTRS waveforms.”

An embedded global positioning system (GPS) is offered as an option on the radio — a first for tactical handheld radios. Also, a vehicular adapter option is offered to allow the AN/PRC-152 to be installed in the U.S.-standard combat net radio mount and used as a vehicular radio. The AN/PRC-152 is the first system to be certified using the Harris Sierra(TM) II software programmable encryption module. Sierra II — a very small, reprogrammable cryptographic device that can be embedded in a variety of voice and data products — received NSA certification last year. Sierra II is targeted at applications requiring small, low-power, low-cost cryptographic solutions.