XTAR Awarded $5.6M Manned Airborne ISR Contract Renewal

December 17, 2013

XTAR LLC has been awarded a $5.6M contract renewal from L-3 Communication Systems-West to provide X-band satellite connectivity to the U.S. Army for manned airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (AISR) mission support. The recent L-3 award caps off another year of significant growth for XTAR in support of airborne applications.

Under the terms of the contract, XTAR will deliver space segment capacity on multiple XTAR-EUR beams, including the Middle East and global beams. The satellite will support connectivity to Army-operated King Air 350 and Dash 8 aircraft. The contracted satellite capacity has increased from the previous amount to satisfy growing requirements, which include achieving higher data rates and supporting additional aircraft. XTAR-EUR, at 29 degrees east longitude, provides commercial X-band coverage from Eastern Brazil across the Atlantic Ocean as far east as Singapore. The flexible payload is delivered through its two global, one fixed, and four steerable spot beams, which can be relocated anywhere within the satellite’s coverage area.

“Even as the U.S. military proceeds to withdraw from areas of major conflict, the appetite for satellite bandwidth is on the increase,” said Philip Harlow, President and Chief Operating Officer of XTAR. “Bandwidth to efficiently transmit large volumes of data is critical to the nation’s security. Space segment users who facilitate AISR missions represent one of XTAR’s fastest growing customer bases.”

The contract renewal was effective November 1, 2013, for one year.