Letter to Under Secretaries Kendall and Hale

Letter

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer secured a commitment from the Department of Defense (DoD) to allow companies like Rochester's Harris RF to compete for a multi-million dollar military radio contract. Earlier this month, Schumer urged top Pentagon officials to commit to open the competition for tactical radio contracts, which levels the playing field for commercial companies in the procurement process and helps provide higher-quality military radios for our nation's troops. Schumer received word today from Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall that the new competition guidelines for this contract will allow Rochester-based Harris RF to compete for Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) procurement dollars.

"I applaud the Department of Defense for heeding my call to send a message that the closed procurement process for next-generation radio is "over and out.' Now that the Pentagon has agreed to open the competition for tactical radio production, companies like Harris RF in Rochester will have the opportunity to bid for contracts worth over $400 million," said Schumer. "We owe our troops the best possible military radios in order to maximize their safety and efficiency as they defend our country, and now commercial manufacturers like Harris RF will have the chance to provide top-of-the-line equipment to our heroes in uniform."

Schumer supports efforts by the Army to transition from funding its own design for JTRS devices to contracting with companies who can produce JTRS-certified radios, like Harris RF. Recent research has shown that commercially-produced JTRS radios are safer, simpler, and more reliable than many of the Army's models currently in use. Now that DoD has committed to make the process for the proposed $482,200,000 procurement dollars more competitive, companies like Harris RF in Rochester will have a shot at providing JTRS radios to protect our troops that are certified through the Army's Network Integration Evaluations (NIE).

In his October 1st letter to Under Secretaries of Defense Kendall and Hale, Schumer successfully urged DoD to allow commercial manufacturers to compete for Army procurement funding to manufacture these combat radios. JTRS is a series of next generation integrated, universally-applicable, tactical radio devices planned by the U.S. military to replace various radio devices currently deployed by U.S. armed forces in combat arenas. These next-generation radios support increased capabilities such as broadband data applications, streaming video, as well as current-generation voice capabilities.

In May 2012, Sen. Schumer helped secure similar language in the pending Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that recommends that a competitive acquisition process is approved for these radios, before any funds are obligated for the full rate production of these radios. The pending FY13 NDAA authorizes a total of $482.2 million for the Army to procure these radios next year, but only once the Defense Department certifies that there is an approved acquisition strategy that promotes full and open competition.

Now that they have access to the JTRS program, companies like Rochester-based Harris RF will have the opportunity to grow new product lines to support its over 2,000 workers in Rochester and Henrietta, while providing the U.S. military with access to Harris' decades of innovative communication technologies expertise. Harris RF Communications Division supplies secure radio communications to military, government, and commercial organizations worldwide. First opened in 1960 by four young entrepreneurs in a basement apartment in Rochester, the company has since grown into a $2 billion business. Its radios are used by the U.S. military as well as by agencies and organizations in over 100 allied nations.

A copy of Sen. Schumer's October 1st letter appears below:

Dear Under Secretaries Kendall and Hale:

I write you to express our concerns regarding the low rate initial production decision (LRIP) that would permit the procurement of approximately 4000 Joint Tactical Radio (JTRS) manpack radios and conversely express my support for

limiting the Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) decision to just those radios necessary for additional testing.

As I stated in my July 27, 2012 letter to Undersecretary Kendall I believe that competition for JTRS procurement dollars is the sensible path forward to both enable our military to benefit from commercially-developed products and to strike the most cost-competitive solution for taxpayers. The longer competition is delayed, the less opportunity we have to benefit from the cost-savings and innovation that competition drives. Moreover, a large LRIP conducted without a competitive process will have a stifling effect on industry's willingness to innovate and will continue to put their own independent research and development funds (IRAD) at risk in these markets.

Furthermore, it appears that the Army does not believe it has the authority to procure commercially developed radios that meet JTRS standards without leveraging a reprogramming request. The initiative to replace the cancelled Ground Mobile Radio system program is evidence of that because it required a reprogramming request to move forward.

I therefore respectfully request that DOD issue guidance on this subject so that the nexus between creating a competitive environment for tactical radios and access to JTRS procurement dollars would not be dependent on a reprogramming request.

I applaud your previous support of a more competitive acquisition model to include commercially developed alternatives and thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to continuing to work with you on this important issue.

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