STRONG RAYTHEON TEAM FOR HC3
29 Oct 07. Raytheon Company will team with the industry’s best communication solutions providers in pursuing the Army’s next generation of satellite communications, the High Capacity Communications Capability, or HC3. HC3 is essentially one SATCOM terminal doing the work of five with the ability to communicate using five SATCOM bands-C, X, Ku, Ka and Q.
Raytheon’s significant systems integration expertise includes its work on the Navy’s Zumwalt class destroyer program and its recent $1bn Navy Multiband Terminal win to provide the Navy’s future multiband SATCOM capabilities.
HC3, the next generation of Army SATCOM, is a family of reconfigurable communications terminals that will provide soldiers with high-capacity, multiband, multimode connectivity. HC3 will use current and future satellites and will be integrated into the Army’s future force communications architecture.
“Our customer needs the HC3 terminals to provide greater capability to the warfighter as new satellites come on line and as aging terminals approach the end of their life cycle,” said Jerry Powlen, vice president, Network Centric Systems’ Integrated Communications Systems. “Raytheon brings more than 30 years of SATCOM experience to the team and a track record of proven communications expertise.”
The company’s Secure Mobile Anti-jam Reliable Tactical Terminal is a precursor to HC3 and was the first of the military’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency, or AEHF, terminals to go into production in April 2007.
Teaming with Raytheon on the pursuit are L3 Communications, Northrop Grumman Corporation and Agile Communications, Inc. Lockheed Martin will also work with Raytheon on Army networking and logistics. Each of these companies brings complementary, industry SATCOM expertise to the capabilities of the team:
L3 Communications has significant high-capacity communications, AEHF technology and multiband SATCOM experience, which includes such HC3-related programs as Phoenix and Ground Multiband Terminals. L3 also brings experience from developing the Network Centric Waveform for the U.S. Army’s WIN-T (Warfighter Information Network-Tactical) program.
Northrop Grumman brings substantial communications and network management experience and insights from many related programs including JTRS (Joint Tactical Radio System); FBCB2 (Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below); and Blue Force Tracking and Future Combat Systems. In addition, Northrop Grumman has significant software-programmable radio experience from development efforts on the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II programs.
Agile Communications will apply its C4ISR system-of-systems engineering expertise to HC3. This effort is based on similar work performed for the JTRS program including realistic simulation and evaluation of network systems.
Lockheed Martin has extensive communications and network management experience and offers insights from many related programs including WIN-T, JTRS Airborne Mobile Fixed, and the Transformation Communications Satellite Mission Operations System.
Lockheed Martin is also the prime contractor for several of the satellites required for HC3 communications.