EMS Technologies to Provide X-band Antenna System for U.S. Military ISR Aircraft
3 March 2011
EMS Defense & Space has received a contract from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to provide an X-band SATCOM antenna system for the RC-12 aircraft, the U.S. military version of the Super King Air 200. Under the terms of the contract, EMS D&S will convert the WavestormGS-X antenna to an airborne version, the Wavestorm AS-X, and provide the antenna subsystem including the slot array antenna aperture, antenna control unit, positioner, RF electronics, autonomous navigation and stabilization, and installation support
EMS’s Wavestorm GS-X antenna was developed as a ground-based SATCOM antenna to support wideband communications requirements for systems transmitting across the various X-band constellations including XTAR, Skynet and Wideband Global Satcom. The antenna’s low-profile slot-array technology is extremely robust and is designed to enable high bandwidth data transmission for airborne, maritime and ground-based platforms.
“We are very impressed with the performance of EMS’s antenna system,” says Michael Johnson, program manager, SAIC. “The antenna has undergone several demonstrations that prove it can exceed our data rate requirements and can be rapidly fielded by the military in support of urgent warfighter needs.”
“We developed our X-band antenna system to meet the growing need for improvements in the transmission of ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) data around the globe,” says Norm Johnson, vice president, Business Development for EMS Defense & Space Division. “Since our first iteration, which included just the slot array antenna aperture, we have continually developed the system to maximize the data rates attainable in such a compact package, making it more desirable than a conventional dish configuration.”