SCHUMER ANNOUNCES: HARRIS RADIO AWARDED CONTRACT WORTH $1.7 BILLION TO BUILD TACTICAL RADIOS FOR U.S. ALLIES OVERSEAS
Tactical Handheld Radios Will Be Manufactured In Rochester Through 2021
Schumer: Fed Investment Is Critical To Growth Of Rochester & Harris Radio
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that Rochester’s Harris Corp. was awarded a contract worth up to $1.7 billion through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. Schumer explained that the company will use these funds to manufacture tactical handheld radios from Harris’s RE-7800 family of tactical radios for U.S. allies and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It is a five-year contract and the majority of the work will be performed in Rochester, New York, with an estimated completion date of June 2021.
“This massive, and well-earned, $1.7 billion contract will support jobs at Harris Radio, in addition to boosting the entire Rochester-area economy. Harris Radio has proved time and time again that they can make superior radios for the U.S. military and our allies around the world,” said Schumer. “Their radios are durable, dependable, and innovative, which means they have a long useful life to support some of the toughest missions around the globe.”
Schumer has long fought to keep Harris Corp. and its local subsidiary in Rochester by advocating for their programs during the Congressional appropriations process and working the Department of Defense to ensure producers like Harris had an even playing field to compete for the major Joint Tactical Radio System radios contracts. Schumer visited Rochester in March 2016 to announce a major push to secure new federal investment opportunities.
During his March 2016 visit, Schumer also celebrated the Army’s selection of Harris in February 2016 as one of three suppliers for the U.S. Army’s 10-year $12.7 billion Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) “Manpack” radio contract, which follows the Army’s April 2015 selection of Harris as one of two suppliers for the Army’s five-year $3.9 billion JTRS “Rifleman” radio contract. In addition, Schumer announced that the new SINCGARS radio manufacturing line is now open in Rochester and supporting 150 local jobs, including 50 new jobs so far. Harris consolidated and moved this line from out of state to Rochester with the support of the lawmakers after Harris’ 2015 acquisition of Exelis.
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