Xetron, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, has been awarded a $2.1 million contract from ViaSat as part of the Department of Defense's Multifunctional Information Distribution System Low Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVT) production programme.
The final contract has an anticipated value of $6.4 million.
The MIDS-LVT team includes ViaSat, Carlsbad, Harris, Melbourne and Xetron.
MIDS-LVT is a Nato-certified, line-of-sight, tactical radio system that collects digital and voice data from many sources and displays an electronic overview of the battlefield for ships, aircraft and ground-based troops.
Transmit
Xetron will provide radio frequency (RF) amplifiers for the system.
The RF amplifier provides the main terminal with high power transmit and receive capabilities to participate in the MIDS network.
The base contract calls for the production of 31 RF amplifiers.
"Participation in the MIDS programme presents us with an excellent opportunity to leverage our position into other Link-16 applications," says Robert Watson, president of Xetron. "That's important to the growth of our business."
MIDS-LVT has been chosen for communications by airborne, shipboard and ground-based troops internationally.
Installed
The MIDS-LVT terminal is being installed into the US Navy's F/A-18 and the US Air Force's F-16, B-1, B-2 and B-52 fleets and other platforms from the US Army, France, Spain, Italy and Germany.
The secure, anti-jam data link is based upon the Link-16 protocol for digital tactical communications. During the next five to seven years, ViaSat estimates the market for about 8,000 of these terminals worldwide.
Source: Flight Daily News