EUROPE
LAND
24 Jan 13. nine23, working in partnership with SBL, has been awarded the RAF’s Project LINK contract which will deliver a mobility programme tailored specifically to meet the needs of the RAF and its personnel. The contract was competed for over a 30-day period and was won in the face of stiff competition. Project Link is a landmark trial that marks the start of the RAF’s innovative vision for the implementation of an RAF mobile strategy which will drive down operating costs and increase capability by harnessing the operational effectiveness and resource efficiencies inherent in mobile technology. (Source: Yahoo!/PRNewswire)
25 Jan 13. Thales has been awarded a contract by the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency1 to upgrade the protected SATCOM capability of NATO in order to increase operational performance and reduce operating costs. Thanks to the new capability upgrade contract, the NATO-EMS will be able to expand its performance to high rate data links while dramatically improving the spectral efficiency of the transmission links, thus optimizing the bandwidth occupancy at satellite level.
USA
LAND
24 Jan 13. U.S. Army Orders MUOS Upgrade for AN/PRC-155 Manpack Radios from General Dynamics. The U.S. Army ordered kits in December to upgrade 100 Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit (HMS) AN/PRC-155 two-channel Manpack radios to enable them to communicate with the military’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite communications system. This MUOS channel upgrade, comprising a field-replaceable power amplifier and supporting software, will allow secure voice and data communication with the MUOS system. The order is valued at $5m; the kits will be delivered in the fall of 2013. The two-channel PRC-155 Manpack radio also runs the essential waveforms from the defense department library. They include the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) that connects dismounted soldiers to the network, the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) that seamlessly transports large amounts of data and the legacy SINCGARS waveform for communication with existing radios. Using the PRC-155’s two-channel capability, soldiers operating on any one of these waveforms on one channel, can interconnect with soldiers using another waveform on the second channel. With the MUOS capability in the PRC-155, a network of soldiers can be interconnected with others in a far distant location. The MUOS waveform, based on the communications interface found in commercial cellular networks, will deliver high-speed voice and data communications and 10-times greater capacity than the military’s current Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite communications system. With a smartphone-like flow of information, the upgraded PRC-155 radios will allow soldiers to access the MUOS communications system wherever they are deployed, on foot or from land vehicles, ships, submarines and aircraft.
21 Jan 13. Blimp in a Box systems ordered by US DoD from Global Telesat. Global Telesat, a wholly owned subsidiary of World Surveillance Group (WSGI), received a contract from the US Department of Defense (DoD) for its Blimp in a Box (BiB) aerostat systems. Under the terms of the $605,000 contract, Global Telesat will provide a set of BiB systems, in addition to on-location support for technical fact gathering, installation and training to the DoD. Sought after a demonstration to the DoD in December 2012, BiB is scheduled to be deployed at an undisclosed army base for provision of semi-persistent, mobile intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data at platoon level.
21 Jan 13. Harris Corporation received approximately $11m in delivery orders to provide international partners of U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command with a range of Falcon tactical radio systems. The radios will be deployed to these partners as part of a U.S. government program for counter-narcotics and other illicit activity. The orders were received in the first quart