Much like the LRIP phase of the JTRS HMS programme, the AN/PRC-155 dual-channel manpack transceiver is being procured by the US Army from General Dynamics and Rockwell Collins © US Army
Production (LRIP) initiative. Handling UHF and L-band traffic the radio has five watts of output power and an integral GPS antenna. The $54 million LRIP of the AN/PRC154 was awarded by the US Army in July 2011. This covered the production of 6250 radios and was evenly split between Thales and General Dynamics. A second LRIP, also worth $54 million, was awarded by the US Army in September 2012 covering the production of 13000 AN/PRC-154
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2015/16 Tactical Radios Compendium
radios again split evenly between each firm, bringing the total number of AN/ PRC-154s ordered to 19250. In terms of performance, up to 50 present programmable channels are accommodated on the radio, with each channel able to host up to three talk groups. These radios carry the SRW (see above) and are equipping the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division, 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division.
The US Army has since pressed ahead with the Full Rate Production of the Rifleman Radio (see below). Ultimately, the AN/ PRC-154 will replace the legacy Thales AN/PRC-148 MBITR (Multiband Inter/ Intra Team Radio) used by the US Army, along with the Harris AN/PRC-152 VHF Multiband Handheld Radio. In essence, the decision to procure the AN/PRC-154 has enabled the US Army to replace two disparate radios with a single system. The Rifleman Radio programme is significant for the US Army as it improves the situational awareness for soldiers at the Forward Edge of the Battle Area (FEBA). Whereas tactical radios, particularly handheld and personnel role radios equipping squads, platoons and their commanders have traditionally been used mainly for voice communications, the ability of the existing AN/PRC-154 Rifleman Radios procured through the LRIP discussed above, and the new radios to be procured via the FRP, to carry geolocation information and to handle data and imagery will both significantly improve the warrior’s situational awareness, and their ability to send information back up the chain of command regarding their situation and locale. Another important dimension of the JTRS initiative is the manpack transceiver. This is being realised in the form of the AN/PRC-155 provided by both General Dynamics and Rockwell Collins, in a similar fashion to the dual source arrangement for the LRIP of the AN/ PRC-154 (see above). In terms of architecture, the AN/ PRC-155 is a dual-channel radio allowing commanders to communicate with their troops on one channel, while conversing with other echelons of command on the second. As of March this year, the two companies have completed the delivery of 1500 radios as the result of a follow-on LRIP for the AN/PRC-155. This takes the total number of AN/PRC-155s ordered to date to 5300, since the first LRIP was awarded to the two companies by the US Army for an initial tranche of 100 AN/ PRC-155s in 2011, plus a further LRIP order for 3725 radios in November 2014. The following order for 1500 radios which Rockwell Collins and General Dynamics completed the delivery of this March was awarded in January 2014. Equipping the US Army, the radio can handle several waveforms including the SRW, SINCGARS, UHF SATCOM, MUOS