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| Hawkeye III (Image: L-3) |
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2015-- L-3 Communications (NYSE:LLL) announced today that it has been awarded an $81.8 million contract from Raytheon Australia to supply the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with 236 Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs), additional support equipment, and training as part of Joint Project 2008 Phase 5B1. This program will further enable the ADF to utilize the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) system, significantly increasing their satellite communications capabilities. Two L-3 business units, Global Communications Solutions (GCS) and Linkabit, will perform on this contract, with hardware deliveries expected to be completed this year.
The contract will deliver L-3 GCS's Hawkeye™ and Panther™ family of VSAT terminals, integrated with L-3 Linkabit’s MPM family of modems, and includes the option to purchase additional terminals and equipment. These terminals will enable ADF troops on the ground to benefit from increased data rates and a higher level of network performance. This award comes as a follow-on to the $35 million Joint Project 2008 Phase 3H contract awarded to L-3 in 2013 for 54 Hawkeye III Lite VSATs and support equipment.
“The L-3 GCS SATCOM terminals are attractive to the Australian military for a number of reasons, including their certification for use on the WGS and their reputation within the U.S. Department of Defense for quality, performance and reliability. Australia is an emerging market for WGS-certified terminals and we look forward to building on the valued relationship we share with our Australian partners,” said Bob Jacobson, president of L-3 GCS and L-3’s Tactical SATCOM sector.
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| MPM modem (Image: L-3) |
“This contract is a significant international win for L-3 and demonstrates the cross-division synergies that enhance our expertise at L-3 GCS and L-3 Linkabit,” said John Mega, president of L-3’s Communication Systems group. “As we expand these product lines and increase L-3’s footprint in the international SATCOM market, we will continue to collaborate with our customers to develop benchmark communication systems that anticipate and exceed their well-defined needs efficiently and affordably.”
L-3 Linkabit provides full-mesh IP over SATCOM solutions that enable mobile and halted forces to collaborate, access Global Information Grid (GIG) resources, and exchange voice, data and video in a tactical environment. L-3 Linkabit’s Network-Centric Waveform (NCW), embedded in the MPM-1000 modem product family, has been uniquely designed to capitalize on the special features and benefits of the WGS satellite. NCW is highly dynamic and adaptable to changing link conditions thereby providing users with a high degree of link availability — even in challenging RF environments. It also enables efficient use of available bandwidth and provides communication capabilities in remote environments where no infrastructure exists. To learn more about L-3 Linkabit, please visit the company’s website at www.L-3com.com/Linkabit.