Military Briefs

Avanti Signs Key NATO Agreement

Avanti Communications has signed an ordering agreement with NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), formerly the NC3A Agency, to provide service from its Hylas fleet.
Avanti said the agreement allows NATO command agencies and NATO member states to request pricing and place orders using pre-arranged terms and conditions and pricing tables.

Ball Aerospace To Host Five U.S. Government Payloads on STPSat-3

Ball Aerospace & Technologies’ STPSat-3 spacecraft will host five payloads and a de-orbit module when it launches in 2013 for the U.S. Air Force (USAF).
The payloads for STPSat-3 will include: the Integrated Miniaturized Electrostatic Analyzer Reflight (iMESA-R); the Joint Component Research (J-CORE); the Strip Sensor Unit (SSU); the Small Wind and Temperature Spectrometer SWATS; and NASA and NOAA’s TSI Calibration Transfer Experiment (TCTE)

Hughes Network Systems Receives FIPS Security Validation for Spaceway Cryptographic Engine

Hughes Network Systems has received Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Security Level 1 validation for its Spaceway Crypto Kernel (HSCK) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The validation is a cryptographic hardware and software accreditation. The HSCK is a common cryptographic engine employed by the Hughes HN9500 satellite terminal and the Ka-band Spaceway 3 access gateway for secure communications.

ITT Exelis Acquires Space Computer to Expand Business in Military Sectors

Technology manufacturer ITT Exelis has completed its acquisition of Space Computer, a privately owned signal processing systems, software and algorithms developer, in an effort to strengthen its presence in military and intelligence sectors.
Space Computer was founded in 1987 and has built a contract portfolio that includes NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and other government, commercial and industrial firms.
  

L-3 Communications Wins $500 Million USSOCOM VSAT Deal

L-3 Communications Holdings subsidiary L-3 Global Communications Solutions (GCS) has received a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite systems contract from the Pentagon’s Special Operations Command that is reportedly worth $500 million.
The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) deal contracts L-3 GCS to develop and manufacture VSAT satellite systems during the next five years for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Special Operations Forces Deployable Node-Family of Terminals (SDN-Lite FoT) program.

Raytheon

Pushes for Alternate U.S. Air Force AEHF Program
Raytheon submitted a proposal to the U.S. Air Force for the Family of Advanced Beyond Line of Sight Terminals (FAB-T) alternate program to provide secure, anti-jam communications for the U.S. president and senior military advisers.
Raytheon wants an alternate U.S. Air Force satellite terminal program. It claims that the three Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military terminals it currently produces already meet 80 percent of the Air Force’s requirements.
 

TeleCommunication Systems Inks $11.3 Million Field Support Services Contract with USMC

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) been awarded $11.3 million in additional funding to provide the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) with field support services for its communications infrastructure.
The TCS field service personnel will aim to provide technical assistance for deployed communications from core technical control facilities and data/security centers to the network edge at remote operations.

Thrane & Thrane, Cobham Subcontracted by Lockheed Martin on Air Force Satcom Program

Lockheed Martin has awarded the satellite communication component of the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) C-130J Super Hercules Block 8.1 upgrade to Cobham and Thrane & Thrane.
The program, which involves the upgrade of more than 200 aircraft, represents a value of more than $24.7 million, with a rollout period from 2014 to 2018.