Comtech Telecommunications Corp. Receives $20.6 Million Order to Support Existing BFT Users and Test New Version of BFT Software

March 1, 2010

Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation, has received a $20.6 million order under its existing $243.5 million BFT contract with the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command. 

The order is for the support of the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below - Blue Force Tracking (FBCB2-BFT) program, a U.S. Army battle command real-time situational awareness and control system, and allows Comtech to continue to provide support of all existing deployed BFT satellite channels for a six month period, plus the addition of one new channel for a nine-month period. The order also supports testing of a new version of BFT software, version 6.5, that would enable current BFT users to operate at higher data rates.

Fred Kornberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp., said, "We are extremely pleased to receive this order which supports immediate U.S. Army operational needs. We believe this order demonstrates the value to the Army of the more than 100,000 deployed first generation Comtech-designed BFT satellite transceivers."

Mr. Kornberg further added, "We believe that this order demonstrates that the U.S. Army has a clear need for higher data rates for its existing BFT satellite transceivers. In addition, because our BFT-2 solutions are designed to be backward compatible, we believe this order further validates how our BFT-2 strategy provides a unique and clear path for the Army to seamlessly transition from BFT-1 to BFT-2 by offering a staged upgrade cycle that eliminates the risk of network disruption while minimizing the costs of operating two different networks."

Comtech has successfully completed U.S. Army sponsored field testing of its BFT-HC ground mobile and aviation transceiver and network solution, meeting or exceeding all BFT-2 specifications. This next-generation transceiver is ready for field deployment, and specifically addresses the U.S. Army warfighters' challenging mobile environment.