About 360 defense industry jobs will leave Fort Wayne within the next 12 months, as Harris Corp. transfers work to its operation in Rochester, New York. Job cuts will begin in the fall, workers were told today.

Harris acquired Exelis, the former defense unit of ITT Corp., for about $4.8 billion earlier this year. The affected workers make Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems, or SINCGARS.

The radios allow frontline troops to coordinate communications into a network rather than routing calls singly up the chain of command. The company has built more than 550,000 SINCGARS.

The defense contractor expanded its local workforce after receiving a multiyear, multibillion-dollar government contract for the radios during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Company officials have said its workforce was destined to decline as the contract wound down.

Tim White, spokesman for the local tactical communications business, said some workers will be given the opportunity to transfer to Rochester. It's unclear how many.

The move will leave slightly more than 500 Harris workers in Fort Wayne in the space and intelligence unit, shared services and electronic systems.

For more on this story, see Thursday's print edition of The Journal Gazette or visit www.journalgazette.net after 3 a.m. Thursday.

sslater@jg.net