Rockwell Collins has been selected to join the Boeing team in the development of the Family of Advanced Beyond-Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) for the U.S. Air Force. Boeing is the prime contractor for a six-year, $273 million contract to design and develop the first increment of wideband satellite communications terminals for a transformational Department of Defense initiative known as FAB-T.
FAB-T will upgrade existing satellite communications for advanced extremely high frequency (AEHF) modes, meeting the government’s next-generation satellite communications requirements. The upgrade allows for increased data capacity and a much faster data transfer rate between airborne platforms and ground command posts. The family of terminals will be used with the Milstar satellite constellation, currently being upgraded by the military, to ensure protected, survivable, worldwide communications.
Rockwell Collins has been chosen to perform on two contracts within the FAB-T program. A contract estimated at $11 million with Boeing calls for Rockwell Collins to provide Milstar terminal and system expertise and support.
The second contract, worth an estimated $2.7 million, calls for Rockwell Collins to develop software for the Milstar LDR Waveform. That contract is through Northrop Grumman, which has teamed with Boeing on FAB-T.
Rockwell Collins has been involved in the Milstar EHF program since its inception and has been providing the U.S. military with Ground and Airborne Command Post Terminals and Single Channel Anti-jam Manportable (SCAMP) terminals. More than 600 SCAMP EHF terminals are currently in use by the military around the world.
FAB-T will provide the U.S. military with assured, survivable, protected and highly reliable strategic and tactical satellite-based communications. The initial phase of the program includes terminal development for a wide range of airborne platforms as well as fixed and transportable ground terminals.
“Rockwell Collins is pleased to join the Boeing and Northrop Grumman teams,” said Greg Churchill, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Rockwell Collins Government Systems. “Our experience in designing, manufacturing and fielding military EHF SATCOM systems, and our recent work in software reprogrammable radio architectures, will be leveraged to help the FAB-T Team meet its goals.”
EHF and AEHF provide secure radio communications, with a high degree of anti-jamming capability and a low probability of interception and detection. Future applications may include other command and control aircraft such as AWACS and Joint Stars.
Downstream, FAB-T increments are expected to develop capabilities to provide the warfighter with access to the Global Information Grid, Global Broadcast System, Common Data Link, Digital Broadcast Satellite and 2-way Ka-Band communications.
