Harris Maritime Communication Services (MCS) is sending satellite communications equipment to provide voice and data capabilities to devastated areas in the Gulf Coast region. Pictured here is a VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) antenna that MCS provided to a UN site in Kigali, Rwanda, in 1994 to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Dedicated employees all across our company are hard at work to expedite the delivery of Harris communications equipment, materials and expertise to the stricken Gulf Coast. Lots of 'engineering on the fly' is in progress to meet the unique needs of this disaster. Harris employees, working in conjunction with the Florida Emergency Operations Center, already are on site in Mississippi where they are supporting recovery operations. Harris satellite communications terminals are providing voice, data, and video capabilities to operations centers in the Gulf area.

Here is how Harris is responding to requests for hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast:

Government Communications Systems
As we learned firsthand last year in Florida, hurricanes quickly bring down landlines and cell phone towers, completely disabling communications. Harris GCSD is pulling together the integration and system architecture design expertise of its engineers with the advanced satcom terminal capabilities of its Maritime Communication Services (MCS) subsidiary to provide satellite communications terminals and other equipment that will be used to help restore the Gulf Coast's communications infrastructure.

Harris has reconfigured and diverted 12 C-band satcom terminals originally destined for Africa to provide vital communications lifelines throughout Mississippi and Louisiana. These satcom terminals will provide vital voice, data, Internet, and fax capabilities - and telemedicine video. Communications will be transmitted from 12 Harris terminals, through a geo-stationary satellite 23,000 miles in space, and back through a hub terminal on the Harris corporate campus. From Melbourne, communications will be switched and forwarded to emergency managers, decision makers and worried families all over the world.

The last of the satcom systems is expected to arrive at the Mississippi Emergency Mutual Aid Center tonight. These systems will then be moved to other operational centers - as designated by the Florida Emergency Operations Center - in the six most devastated Mississippi counties. In some locations, telephone service and Internet access already has been established using the Harris satcom terminals.

Harris GCSD also is delivering:

• 2 VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminal) for a messaging center
• Satellite phones that provide emergency personnel with personal communications capabilities.
• A Mobile Cellular Base Station from AirNet Communications Corp. with 150 cellular phones from Cingular programmed to be compatible with the station is operational and being used by disaster relief personnel. A Repeater tower with an AirNet Repeater is available for extending range of coverage. The system includes self-contained power generators, etc.
• A relocatable Disaster Communications (DisCom) system that has both satellite phones and cellular communications capability.
• Harris engineers, working with the FAA Technical Center and National Weather Service personnel, quickly established a back-up weather information system for the Gulf Coast Region using the existing Weather And Radar Processor (WARP) system. Currently, there is NO OTHER way to get weather information out of the region. Weather information is critically needed for rescue and staging operations. WARP was originally developed by Harris for the Federal Aviation Administration and is currently active in all of the FAA's en route air traffic centers throughout the U.S.

The DisComm System will be located in Harrison County, Mississippi.

Harris employees from Government Communications Systems, RF Communications, and Maritime Communication Services are already onsite in Gulfport, Mississippi with communications equipment. Team members include (L-R): Cecil Smith, Mike Estes, Dale Weiss, Tommy Mach, Mike Baranishyn, Matt Collins, and Jay Kaplan.

RF Communications
Harris tactical radios, which have saved lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, are being used across all military branches for this relief effort:

• RF Communications has sent 3 multiband radios to the Air Force to provide first responders with an extended-range (200-300 miles) communications network for telephone and Internet communications. The radios were on their way within 3 hours of the request.
• RF Communications employees are gathering equipment to establish a High Frequency (HF) Network that will be able to connect to local Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) systems and provide wireless e-mail capability. This network will consist of 20 HF Base Station Systems, 5 Tactical Network Access Hubs and 5 Wireless Messaging Programs, and also will be used to support the Florida Emergency Response Center.
• RF Communications has expedited an order for the U.S. Navy for the TACMOBILE Program to obtain transit case systems to be used in New Orleans. Nine field service engineers from Rochester are on call and prepared to support all on-site equipment.

Airmen from the 122nd Air Support Operations Squadron here are helping coordinate Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans. Maj. Chris Gavin is operating a satellite radio from a command center communicating with tactical air controllers who are assisting various agencies provide help where it is needed. Maj. Gavin is a squadron air liaison officer here. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Don Nelson)

Broadcast Communications Division
Restoring mass communications capabilities is a priority after any disaster, and Harris is working with most major TV stations and radio stations in the affected areas. Harris engineers tell us that the Katrina relief effort is in some ways more difficult than that following 9/11, in that there are no tall buildings on which to locate antennas. Many stations will simply have to rebuild operations from the ground up.

Television:

• Harris is working with most of the major TV stations in New Orleans, some of which can now only transmit over the Internet. Harris transmitters were previously used by most the TV stations in the city.
• Harris engineers are assisting stations with mid-range planning by helping them to establishing temporary transmission sites (containers with transmitters located adjacent to prior operations sites).
• Harris has already sent one transmitter via tractor-trailer.

Radio:

• BCD is the process of setting up a "field office" in Jackson, Mississippi staffed by Sales and Field Service to respond to radio broadcast needs; 9 Public Radio stations are currently down.
• Making extensive contacts in the region to determine type of equipment needed to start advance efforts internally and fulfill emergency orders.
• Shipping two sets of studio gear to Clear Channel in Baton Rouge.
• Shipping two radio FM transmitters to Clear Channel in Mississippi.
• Working with Quincy factory to expedite manufacturing and delivery of flyaway equipment given power outages.

Microwave Communications Division
Harris microwave radios provide a cost-effective and quick means of establishing communications infrastructure.

• MCD is in contact with Land Mobile Radio and cellular infrastructure providers, cellular operators, utility companies, local and state government, federal agencies and broadband communications providers focused on service from platform to shore in order to provide both licensed and unlicensed radios in support of the disaster recovery initiatives.
• MCD is shipping 4 hops of Aurora radios to Louisiana. These radios will be used in conjunction with Land Mobile Radio systems to support public safety.
• MCD has more than 60 hops of microwave radios supporting offshore oil platforms. MCD personnel are on stand-by since the platforms have been evacuated and the damage assessment cannot be done until personnel are dispatched.
• A federal agency has contacted MCD to check availability of microwave radios for use in the relief effort.

Corporate Headquarters
Corporate and GCSD personnel have created an IT portal to provide large commercial satellite images of the hurricane-damaged area to first responders for damage and recovery assessment.

Harris Commits $150,000 to Red Cross Relief Efforts
As noted in a previous email, Harris has committed $150,000 to the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

A heartfelt thank-you to all Harris employees who are working hard and putting in long hours to make available and deliver the communications systems that will help to bring relief to the victims of this disaster.