U.S. Air Force marks significant progress with high-bandwidth satellite terminal development program

March 4, 2015

Raytheon Company has completed a number of design and development milestones for a nuclear-hardened command and control system, one year after receiving a $134 million U.S. Air Force contract to provide secure communications between the president, senior military leaders and the bomber fleet.

The program to upgrade the satellite terminals for the protected communications network has successfully passed system requirements and preliminary design reviews.

Raytheon received the contract to develop the Global Aircrew Strategic Network Terminal in December, 2013. Functional Qualification Testing and other milestones are expected before a Milestone C decision and production award by the end of 2016.

"The requirements are in place, designs are progressing and we're executing on time and on budget," said Scott Whatmough, vice president of Raytheon's Integrated Communication Systems business in Marlborough, Mass.

The upgrade will mark the first time that the bomber fleet air bases have access to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites, which will provide secure, protected communications.

As the only provider of high-bandwidth AEHF terminals, Raytheon was able to help the Air Force drive down program costs, giving the service greater buying power and new capabilities.