Intelsat is a commercial satellite provider, who launches and maintains global coverage for its customers with over 50 satellites. One interesting wrinkle is a program that lets customers pay to host partial or full payloads on Intelsat’s birds, locking in recurring service revenues and defraying the cost of deployment.
Australia is a US military partner for the Wideband Global SATCOM program, buying WGS-6 and gaining access to the constellation’s services under Joint Project 2008, Phase 4. In April 2009, a decision was made to add a partial communications payload on Intelsat’s IS-22 UHF satellite, under JP 2008, Phase 5A. That is now a full UHF payload, under a revised contract – and the USA will benefit, as well…
At the twilight’s last gleaming (click to view larger)
A $70 million contract for TPS-59 radar maintenance and sustainment. (April 28/10)
Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensor in Electronics Park, Syracuse, NY is responsible for developing, maintaining, and upgrading the AN/TPS-59(V)3 Long Range Radar System. The TPS-59 is an all solid-state L-Band, 3-dimensional air defense radar which is tactically mobile and provides long-range surveillance and ground-control intercept capability. It supports enroute traffic control to a distance of 300 nautical miles, and its 740 km/ 400 nautical mile range and full 360 degree azimuth scan results in a surveillance volume of 603 million km3 for tactical missile defense. The TPS-59 is in service with the USMC, Bahrain, and Egypt, and is the only long range 3D Radar in the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The related FPS-117 family of solid-state radars is in service with the USAF, and 17 countries around the world.
Developed for the United States Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), the Missile Defense Agency’s predecessor, and the United States Marine Corps, the TPS-59 (V)3 is designed to operate with Patriot missile batteries. These radars have been modernized and upgraded several times during their lifespan, in order to keep them on the cutting edge of technology. In August 1996, at White Sands Missile Range, the AN/TPS-59(V)3/HAWK system completed a test program in which it intercepted and destroyed a LANCE short range theater ballistic missile and 2 air breathing drones simultaneously in an operational test. Those kinds of improvements and modernizations continue today…
Aegis Technologies in Huntsville, AL received a $20.5 million contract to support the Air Force Modeling and Simulation Training Toolkit (AFMSTT).
AFMSTT is a collection of computer-based simulation systems and mission controller workstations used to train senior US military commanders and staff for joint air warfare.
Harris Corp. in Lynchburg, VA received a $9.2 million modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract (N65236-07-D-5115) for land mobile radio (LMR) systems and equipment for the Hierarchical Yet Dynamically Reprogrammable Architecture (HYDRA) wireless communications program.
The cumulative value of this contract, including this modification, is $39.2 million.
On April 27/10, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), which manages N65236-07-D-5115, published a pre-solicitation notice indicating that it plans to award a follow-on contract to Harris. Responses to this notice are due by May 4/10.
The Harris HYDRA system provides wireless communication for crews on aircraft carrier flight decks…
