SCHUMER: HARRIS CORP DELIVERS 9K STATE-OF-THE-ART RADIOS TO CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION UNDER NEW $25M+ CONTRACT; SENATOR SAYS ROCHESTER COMPANY PROVIDES THE MOST DURABLE, DEPENDABLE AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR CBP
New Contract Will Allow Harris Corp To Manufacture Over 17,000 Of The Only Handheld, Multiband, Land-Based LTE Radio Available – The XL-200P –For U.S. Customs And Border Patrol; Harris Has Now Delivered First Order Of 9,000 Radios
Schumer: Major Order Is A Win-Win-Win For Our Law Enforcement, Harris Corp., And The Rochester-Finger Lakes Economy
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that Harris Corp. in Rochester has delivered 9,000 state-of-the-art public safety radios to the United States Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) -- the first order of a $25.7 million contract Harris received to produce 17,000 radios for CBP. Specifically, CBP’s order is for Harris Corp.’s XL-200P radio, which was designed in cooperation with public safety experts to best suit their operational needs.
“This well-earned order for Harris Corp. to manufacture new, state-of-the-art radios for Customs and Border Protection will boost the Rochester-Finger Lakes’ economy, in addition to ensuring that our law enforcement has the most modern and effective radios possible,” said Senator Schumer. “Harris produces superior technology for the United States government, and this order further proves it. Harris’s Rochester workers are world class, and I’ll continue fighting tooth and nail to support them through every avenue possible.”
Schumer has long fought to keep Harris Corp. and its local subsidiary in Rochester. Earlier this year, Schumer successfully secured over $312 million in federal funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to continue building the agency’s next flagship telescope, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), which is produced, in part, by Harris Corp in Rochester, supporting 160 good-paying jobs. In September of last year, Schumer announced that following his push with the Army for a fair and equitable procurement process, Harris Corp successfully competed and was named by the Army as one of two contractors for a new contract worth up to $3.9 billion to produce the Army’s new two-channel “Leader” radio. In a 2017 meeting with U.S. Secretary of the Army Dr. Mark Esper, Schumer urged him to continue the Army’s support of Harris Corp. In August of that year, Schumer announced a $12 million contract with the United States Army. Additionally, Schumer has long advocated for Harris during the Congressional appropriations process and by pressing the Department of Defense to ensure producers like Harris have an even playing field to compete for the Joint Tactical Radio System contracts.
In June 2017, Schumer announced that Harris was awarded a contract worth $255 million through the U.S. Special Operations Command: The contract would be used to manufacture two-channel manpack radios for the Special Operations Forces Units and for foreign partners. Schumer visited Rochester in March 2016 to announce a major push to secure new federal investment opportunities. In addition, in June of 2016, Schumer announced that Harris had received a $1.7 billion contract to manufacture radios from Harris’s RE-7800 family of tactical radios. In 2015, Schumer helped Harris bring a new SINCGARS Radio Manufacturing Line to Rochester. The “SINCGARS” manufacturing line was officially installed at the Jefferson Road facility in Rochester in 2016.
Harris Corp.’s XL-200P radio is currently the only handheld, multiband, land-based LTE radio available. Schumer explained that having multiband radios is of the utmost importance to CBP, as they are interoperable and allow for coordinated response and communication between multiple parties, rather than exclusively between two parties. Additionally, one major feature of the XL-200P is that it includes software defined architecture, meaning that as technology advances, the radio’s operating system can be upgraded without alterations to the hardware.
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