24 Sep 02. Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS – News) today announced that it has been issued a letter of intent to contract with The Boeing Company’s Integrated Defense Systems operating unit, Anaheim, California, for a six-year, $90m military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) hardware design, development, and integration project as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Family of Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminal (FAB-T) program. FAB-T is the next generation of MILSATCOM airborne and ground terminals that will provide the warfighter with protected, wideband satellite communications onboard airborne and ground fixed and mobile command and control centers (See BOEING TEAM AWARDED FAB-T CONTRACT).
During FAB-T System Design and Development (SDD), Harris will conduct terminal and antenna hardware integration, and operator interface development for aircraft and ground terminals. Harris participation may reach $90m for the SDD phase of the program, including the management of additional subcontractors, once subcontract negotiations with Boeing are final.
“Through the use of the Air Force’s Spiral Development Acquisition Techniques, FAB-T will exemplify how MILSATCOM terminals will be developed in the future,” said Bob Henry, president, Harris Government Communications Systems Division (GCSD). “FAB-T is a key component of the military’s initiative to develop a family of re-configurable and re-programmable satellite communications systems that can accommodate multiple frequency bands and varying high data rates from multiple communications satellites.”
FAB-T utilizes an open architecture and a software re-programmable design that will simplify future upgrades to the U.S. Air Force MILSATCOM network, significantly lowering costs in operations and logistics support for these advanced terminals. The FAB-T terminals employ the innovative Software Defined Radio (SDR) architecture being developed by Boeing and Harris for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS).
“FAB-T represents a significant market penetration for Harris and adds to our already strong relationship with Boeing,” said Tim Malac, director of aerospace systems Business Development, Harris GCSD. “FAB-T will provide opportunities for Harris, as part of the Boeing team, to expand this capability into other airborne and ground-based platforms.” Protected, beyond line-of-sight communications will be provided by the new Advanced Extremely High Frequency (Advanced EHF) satellite system, a new generation of secure and survivable satellites designed to support military forces. Future versions of FAB-T will enable communications with other satellite systems such as the Wideband Gapfiller System (WGS), a program for which Harris is providing the Ka-Band spot beam antennas, and engineering and technical support as part of the Boeing team. Harris GCSD conducts advanced research studies, develops prototypes, and produces and supports state-of-the-art, highly reliable communications and information systems that solve the mission-critical communications
challenges of its military and government customers, as well as provides
the technology base for the company’s diverse commercial businesses.
A further contract award was announced by Harris on September 26th for a $2.3m contract by Northrop Grumman Canada Corporation, to provide digital map technology for the Canadian CF-18 A/B and Australian F-18 A/B fighter jets. Harris digital map technology enables military flight crews to operate with unprecedented navigational and situational awareness using advanced, real-time terrain visualization data. Contract options could increase the overall value of the program to $7m over the next five years.
Under terms of the contract, Harris will supply card-level digital map modules to be included in Northrop Grumman’s Horizontal Situation Display (HSD) cockpit display package, a new generation of color displays for the F-18A/B aircraft. Harris software digital map tec