L3Harris to produce 6,000 of its Polish-made RF-9820S Widmo radios per year

An image of the RF-9820S compact team radio. (L3Harris Technologies)

L3Harris Technologies plans to produce approximately 6,000 of its new RF-9820S Widmo radios per year in partnership with Polish manufacturer Centrum Techniki Morskiej (CTM), president of L3Harris' Communication Systems segment Samir Mehta told Janes on 5 November.

The RF-9820S Widmo (translates to phantom in Polish) radios developed with CTM are expected to be rolled out in 2026, according to Mehta. L3Harris signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CTM on 4 November during the opening of a new L3Harris office in Warsaw as part of the company's effort to expand its support for programmes with the Polish Armed Forces. Mehta confirmed that L3Harris does not intend to go beyond an office and open an L3Harris factory in Poland.

Some of the lessons learned from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are being applied to the new L3Harris radio, including greater resilience to electronic warfare (EW) and quick adaptability in case of frequency jamming. The RF-9820S Widmo radio has software-defined waveforms, which can be upgraded without “the radio being pulled from the battlefield”, Mehta said. “We have a proven methodology to push new waveforms with the customer able to programme the radio in the field,” he added. L3Harris plans to continue upgrades to the radio while its manufacture progresses. “We will have additional works on the waveforms and the implementation,” Mehta said, adding that he expected the radios to be in theatre “for years to come”.

While not detailing the RF-9820S Widmo's technical specifications, the company confirmed that it is a single-channel mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio with voice and data capabilities.