ViaSat [Nasdaq: VSAT] has received a contract from the U.S. Army to design and produce an enhanced bandwidth efficient modem for high-speed satellite communications. The contract, which includes the purchase of strategic (fixed) and tactical (shipboard) units valued at $7.8 million, will run through July 2005.

The new modems are designed to send and receive data at speeds from 64 Kbps to 155 Mbps.