Aeroflex Wins $40.5M Order to Provide JTRS Test Equipment
Aeroflex Wichita in Wichita, KS won [pdf] a maximum $40.5 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract from the US Marine Corps for ground radio maintenance automatic test systems. A delivery order with a value of $16.3 million is being issued concurrently with the contract award.
Under the contract, Aeroflex will supply its 7200 Configurable Automated Test Set (CATS) equipment, which is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) platform for testing the performance of software-defined radios, including the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). “US Contracts for Next-Gen Tactical Radio Upgrades” provides insights into the JTRS program, which is intended to bring the next-generation tactical radio system to US troops.
The 7200 is based on a common platform architecture designed to be compatible with the software communications architecture used by JTRS. In addition, the 7200 CATS can test radar and avionics devices.
The 7200 comes standard with:
- 90 MHz instantaneous digitization and signal generation bandwidth;
- Better than -108 dBc/Hz phase noise capability;
- 2.6 GHz frequency coverage;
- Automated test execution optimization which reduces test times;
- Packaging to meet MIL-PRF-28800F Class 3 requirements; and
- Real-time computation power;
Aeroflex will perform the work Wichita and expects to complete it by September 2013. This contract was awarded as a result of a full and open competitive solicitation, with 3 offers received by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA (M67854-09-D-3002).