Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a three-year, $66 M contract by the US Navy for pre-production and test of the Ku-band Common Data Link (CDL) Hawklink system for the MH-60R Light Airborne Multi-purpose System (LAMPS) helicopter.


Hawklink is a high speed digital data link that transmits tactical video, radar, acoustic and other sensor data from MH-60R helicopters to their host surface ships. Beginning with this contract award, the potential value of the CDL Hawklink production program for Harris could exceed $350 M by 2015 if the Navy exercises all options to equip as many as 350 aircraft and ships, including Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers.

"We are very pleased to be entering into the production phase of this key program that will provide the Navy with a critical enabler for transitioning to a network-centric architecture for advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance networking," said Sheldon Fox, vice president and general manager of Department of Defense Programs, Harris Government Communications Systems Division. "We look forward to continuing our close working relationship established with the Navy and BAE Systems during the design and development phase of the program." Under terms of this contract, Harris will act as the prime contractor, working with BAE Systems to prepare for production of AN/SRQ-4 (Ku) field change kits to retrofit ships, and to provide AN/ARQ-58 Radio Terminal Sets for MH-60R aircraft. The work also includes integrated logistics support and analysis, sustaining engineering, training, non-recurring and recurring engineering changes, and technical, administrative and financial data.

This award is the culmination of a multi-year development effort between the Navy, Harris and BAE Systems that began in 1999 to prove the feasibility of using Tactical Common Data Links for the LAMPS application. As teammates during the development effort, Harris and BAE Systems successfully demonstrated an operational system consisting of both an airborne terminal and a shipboard terminal.