Military News

Boeing, Iridium Complete U.S. Navy GPS System Upgrades

Iridium Satellite and Boeing achieved two milestones in coordinated efforts to develop and demonstrate capability enhancements to a high-integrity GPS program for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
For the first milestone, the companies completed an enhanced narrowband software modification to computers on Iridium satellites, enabling second-generation GPS-aiding signals to be broadcast through the entire Iridium constellation. These signals aim to provide equipped warfighters with improved capabilities for quickly locking on and maintaining a GPS signal, even while operating in restrictive environments or under enemy jamming attempts or amid battlefield radio frequency noise.
The second milestone was a demonstration of the acquisition of a GPS signal under substantial jamming while moving in a vehicle.
The team, which includes Rockwell Collins and Coherent Navigation, will support a system-level demonstration later this year.

FMS, Iridium Win U.S. Homeland SecurityTracking Systems Order

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Detention and Removal has selected Fleet Management Solutions (FMS) and Iridium Satellite to supply vehicle tracking and mobile resource management systems for deployment under an initiative to optimize efficiency.
The Department of Homeland Security will install GPS tracking systems, which transmits position, direction and speed and other telematic data for user-specified events and reporting from its vehicles. The tracking equipment and hosted Web software will aim to improve asset readiness, enhance mission effectiveness, reduce fleet costs and coordinate compliance with U.S. federal property management regulations.

Financial details of the order were not disclosed.

Harris Awarded DISA MNIS Contract Worth Up to $27 Million

The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded Harris Corp. with a potential five-year, $27 million contract to provide network and systems engineering to support DISA’s Multinational Information Sharing (MNIS) program management office.
Harris will act as sole subcontractor to EDS, an HP company, on the MNIS system engineering and technical assistance contract, which was awarded under the Encore 2 order announced earlier this year. The Encore 2 contract has a one-year base period with four, one-year options.
Under this recent contract, Harris will provide network and system engineering, program management, acquisition, configuration management and strategic planning support. MNIS aims to ensure seamless information sharing among U.S. forces and their allied and coalition partners.

Integral To Provide European Navies with Network Monitoring

Integral Systems Europe (ISE) signed a three-year deal with Thales to provide the Norwegian and Netherlands Navies with advanced network monitoring and management systems.
ISE said it will provide its Compass Network Management solution, a product of its subsidiary Newpoint, for this contract as well as future yet-to-be-disclosed projects.
The deal builds off a contract Thales signed with the Norwegian and Netherlands Defense Procurement Divisions to increase the effectiveness of satellite communications for five of their Nansen class frigates and four Navsat frigates.
Financial details of these contracts were not disclosed.

Lockheed Martin, GSM Win Military Submarine UHF Antenna Contract

Lockheed Martin and Granite State Manufacturing (GSM) received a $6.9 million contract from the U.S. Navy to design, test and manufacture an upgraded submarine mast antenna system that will provide vessels with improved UHF-band satellite communications.
The mast antenna will add Link 16, Iridium and Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) UHF satellite communications capabilities while maintaining performance in legacy bands. The upgrade aims to ensure compatibility with new satellites and evolving communication systems to ensure that submarine forces will remain connected to the global information grid.
The design award is part of a larger Navy system contract with a cumulative value of $57.6 million if all options are exercised. Lockheed Martin and GSM said they expect to upgrade at least 12 submarine systems per year over six years.

Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin Compete for Space Fence

Raytheon Co.. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin received contracts from the U.S. Air Force for the phase A system design and prototype of the S-band Space Fence system.
The Space Fence program is part of a U.S. Department of Defense effort to track and detect resident space objects consisting of thousands of pieces of space debris as well as commercial and military satellites. Space Fence will replace the current VHF Air Force space surveillance system, built in 1961.
The three competitors each received $30 million development contracts. Delivery of the first Space Fence radar system is expected in 2015.

SNT Wins U.S. Army Grant to Test Mobile Radio Networks

Scalable Network Technologies (SNT), a wireless network evaluation service, was awarded a $2 million phase 2.5 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Army to create an enterprise solution for mobile network communications simulation for the Army’s JTRS Ground Mobile Radio (GMR) testing, training and experimentation.
The grant obligates SNT to create a live-virtual-constructive test architecture that accurately represents the operation of thousands of on-the-move mobile and satellite radios, including verification and validation.
SNT has developed similar tests under the phase 1 and 2 stages of this project. The latest test architecture is scheduled for completion in October 2010.

TCS Receives Additional Army Funds for X-band VSAT Routers

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) received an additional $6.8 million of funding from the U.S. Army to provide additional Secret Internet Protocol Router (SIPR) and Non-secure Internet Protocol Router (NIPR) X-band VSAT Satellite Systems.
The order, under the Army’s SNAP program, includes options for about 1,500 terminals and supporting equipment to be deployed in various sizes and configurations over the next few years, along with up to 30 field support personnel.
The combined award is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command order, announced in August 2008, with a potential value of $232 million, and brings TCS’ total funding for this project up to $55.9 million.

ViaSat Awarded $21 Million Military Low-Volume Terminal Order

ViaSat won a delivery order worth about $21 million for Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) terminals from U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego.
The Lot 10 order includes low-volume terminal variants for F/A-18+, E/A-18G aircraft and MH-60R/S and CH-53K helicopters as well as terminal variants for Canada, Germany and various U.S. Army and Air Force applications.
Delivery of the units is expected to begin in July and continue through the end of the year.
MIDS aims to provide improved situational awareness in combat for U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and other U.S. defense partners by gathering information into a digital view of the battlefield.

VSDAcquires Television Direct to Sailors Program

VSD and SES Americom subsidiary Americom Government Services (AGS) completed negotiations to transition programming responsibilities for the Television Direct to Sailors (TV-DTS) terminal program from AGS to VSD.
The formal transition expands and strengthens VDS’ strategic alliance with Orbit Communication Systems to provide satellite communications and telecommunications offerings for antenna systems sales, parts support and technical engineering services, VDS said.
TV-DTS aims to provide welfare and morale of merchant marine personnel at sea through access to Armed Forces Radio and Television broadcast service.

Wavestream Receives Ka-band Amplifier Order from General Dynamics

Wavestream Corp. received orders totaling more than $50 million from General Dynamics for products from Wavestream’s family of Ka-band SSPAs for the U.S. Army’s new satellite transportable terminals.
The product being delivered to General Dynamics is a 50-Watt Ka-band SSPA with integrated BUC, which is part of a family of Ka-band products by Wavestream that includes 12-watt and 25-watt models. To date, Wavestream has delivered more than 600 Ka-band SSPAs to General Dynamics.