From King George V. to Queen Elizabeth II, and serving prime ministers from David Lloyd George to Boris Johnson, L3Harris’ presence in the United Kingdom (UK) has experienced many transformative years. The company began in 1921 with production solely focused on printed matter. Today’s capabilities span air, land, sea, space and cyber domains, with a focus on multi-domain integration.
“L3Harris in the UK and across the globe has an unrivalled track record in gathering, aggregating, analysing and securely disseminating data from a multitude of sources, from the most covert intelligence to freely available open source social media,” said Graeme Mackay, L3Harris Corporate Vice President and Country Executive – United Kingdom. “Helping support the UK’s local communities and armed forces for the last century is a significant milestone. We’ll continue to work with our 1,500 highly talented employees to further our partnerships and innovation in space, in the air, at sea and on land.”
Over the last century, L3Harris has remained a fixture of technology leadership in the UK. In February, L3Harris received its Centenary Certificate from the UK’s Registrar Companies House office, which recognises and honours companies with 100 years of incorporation. Receiving the Centenary Certificate represents the company’s commitment to the region and is a testament to L3Harris’ dedication to delivering capabilities that protect the armed forces.
Tactical Communications and Modernisation
Since 2001, L3Harris has supported the UK Ministry of Defence’s Bowman Tactical Radio Program as the worldwide leader in tactical communications. With 50,000 Bowman tactical radios currently fielded, L3Harris oversees one of the most important tactical communications projects in the country’s history. The company was recently awarded a five-year, logistics support/sustainment contract, with options to extend through Babcock International Group to provide support and maintenance for the tri-service fleet of in-service Bowman and Multi-Mode radios at its new facility in Farnborough.
“We look forward to supporting and delivering new capability and benefits to one of the key enablers in the LE TacCIS (Land Environment Tactical Communication Information System) programme with Bowman and Morpheus as we move into the future,” said Keith Norton, L3Harris Vice President, Communications Systems Europe.
The company has continually invested in significant research and development to enhance its tactical communications solutions.
“Many European nations are looking at refreshing their tactical communications systems in service from the ‘digitization era’ so right now there are a number of large modernization programs underway,” Norton added. “For example in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands – we are looking at how we can support them.”
Critical to these modernisation programs are L3Harris’ electronic warfare and cyber security technologies. As threats continue to rapidly evolve and diversify across domains, L3Harris ensures forces are fully equipped to stay ahead of adversaries with agile, integrated cyber and electromagnetic activity (CEMA) architectures and life-saving force protection built on open standards. The company’s rich heritage in Government Grade Cyber Security sees L3Harris ideally placed to secure the country’s most sensitive data, networks and assets.
Autonomous Systems
L3Harris is also an industry expert in autonomous platforms. Its maritime solutions currently power the Royal Navy’s autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) technology, with over 100 ASV systems delivered to both defence and commercial customers. L3Harris remains a pioneer of marine digital control systems with four decades of engineering experience.
Autonomy isn’t limited to just maritime unmanned vessels. L3Harris has leveraged its knowledge from sea to air with combat unmanned aerial system drones. Unmanned aircraft, such as the FVR-90, have the capabilities of delivering cargo, data collection, aerial photography and attack capability during missions, reconnaissance and much more.
With these enumerated benefits, detecting and defeating malicious drone threats remains an issue when protecting domestic environments. L3Harris has developed multi-sensors and electronic warfare countermeasures in facilities in the UK, which provide increased situational awareness to protect against adversarial drone threats.
Aviation
In aviation, L3Harris has a well-established presence in the UK. There were over 2,780 years of combined engineering experience alone innovating the Full Flight Simulator. Flight simulation training is imperative to develop the skills and knowledge required to operate commercial aircraft in all phases of flight and in all weather conditions. The company’s systems – and training operations in Europe and the United States – provide a safe environment for pilots to hone their skills.
Today, L3Harris is framed to support the commercial airline industry’s recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. These flight simulators will have a significant impact ensuring the industry maintains the highest safety standards as airlines rebuild their operations.
L3Harris values its long-standing partnership with the Royal Air Force, proudly supporting its missions with RC-135 Airseeker reconnaissance aircraft that demonstrate proven reliability and performance. The RC-135 Airseeker offers near real-time on-scene intelligence collection, with analysis and dissemination capabilities. As the industry-leading provider of ISR and mission-critical solutions, L3Harris continues to deliver and sustain the highest-performing tools to address the Royal Air Force’s most sensitive missions in both traditional and rapid-response environments.
