Raytheon Awarded US$
86.7 Million To Upgrade Satellite Communication Terminals
(28 April 2008) Raytheon Company has
won an US$ 86.7 million contract to produce and install upgrade kits for the
Army's Secure Mobile Anti-jam Reliable Tactical Terminal, or
SMART-T.
The award, part of an indefinite delivery-indefinite
quantity contract originally awarded in 2007, increases the total contract
value to US$ 183.3 million.
The upgrades will be installed on joint and
international terminals for the U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps as well
as for Canada and the Netherlands.
The Advanced Extremely High Frequency
kits expand by a factor of four times the data rate of existing SMART-T
systems.
Jerry Powlen, vice president, Network Centric Systems'
Integrated Communications Systems, said: "These upgrades incorporate Raytheon's
advances in protected satellite communications and provide our troops with
increased bandwidth for real-time video, battlefield mapping and targeting
data. As leaders in protected satellite communications, we look forward to
delivering our AEHF solution to the Navy and the Air Force in the near future
as well."
The Army's SMART-T was the first AEHF system to go into
production with the proven capability to communicate with the next generation
of AEHF communications satellites. AEHF is the Department of Defense's primary
system to provide highly protected satellite communications through
2020.
Raytheon's SMART-T software has been the genesis for other
critical programs including the company's solution for the Navy's Multiband
Terminal and the Air Force's production of the Minuteman Minimum Essential
Emergency Communications Network program upgrade. It provides the services with
essential, joint-interoperable capability for legacy EHF and future AEHF
communications.
Raytheon Company, with 2007 sales of US$ 21.3 billion,
is a technology leader specialising in defence, homeland security and other
government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning
86 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the art electronics, mission systems
integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and
command and control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a
broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass.,
Raytheon employs 72,000 people world-wide.
Canada and the Netherlands
will receive an AEHF-only version of the terminal.
The AEHF upgrade
incorporates Raytheon's eXtended Data Rate (XDR) waveform hardware and software
modifications, a technological breakthrough in protected
communications.
(source: Raytheon)
