Lockheed Martin, ViaSat Collaborate on US Navy Defense Program

Rendition of LRASM attacking a maritime ship target. Photo: DARPA.

ViaSat announced it received a follow-on contract from Lockheed Martin to deliver datalink communications for the integration and test phase of the U.S. Navy’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) program. The contract calls for ViaSat to provide Weapon Data Link (WDL) L-Band Units (LBU) to support the overall missile test program’s datalink communications requirements, as well as engineering support for software enhancements and flight test support.

The LRASM program is the key pillar of the U.S. Navy’s Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) effort to improve its ability to engage and destroy high-value targets from extended range. The ViaSat datalink solution will enable the LRASM weapon system to communicate with launch platforms and provide growth opportunities in the future. According to ViaSat, the LRASM solution is the first in a series of offerings that it plans to bring to the marketplace over the next 12 to 18 months.