Navy orders high-bandwidth shipboard data communications SATCOM system from L3Harris for surface warships

March 2, 2021
CBSP ULV provides terminal-to-shore, terminal-to-space, and terrestrial connectivity for commercial SATCOM and redundancy for military SATCOM.

SAN DIEGO – Military communications experts at L3Harris Technologies Inc. will provide the U.S. Navy with high-bandwidth satellite communications (SATCOM) aboard naval surface warships in a new order announced last week.

Officials of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command in San Diego, are asking L3Harris in Palm Bay, Fla., to provide for Commercial Broadband Satellite Program (CBSP) Unit Level Variant (ULV) hardware production units under terms of a $18.5 million order.

CBSP ULV provides terminal-to-shore, terminal-to-space, and terrestrial connectivity to increase throughput for commercial SATCOM, and redundancy for military SATCOM.

Related: Raytheon shipboard SATCOM system will enable onboard computers to communicate with Global Information Grid

The CBSP ULV is designed to provide fast data communications for small naval surface warships and support ships by operating in the X and Ku frequency bands for military and commercial satellites.

The terminal supports full-duplex communications and data rates as fast as 21.4 megabits per second using single channel per carrier modems and dynamic bandwidth modems.

CBSP ULV antennas provide IESS-601-standard G and MIL-STD-188-164A-compliant beam patterns using a 1.32-meter reflector mounted on a three-axis positioner enclosed inside a protective radome.

Related: Navy chooses L3Harris to design and build wideband SATCOM terminals for ships, submarines, and shore sites

The shipboard system's below-deck communications equipment on surface warships and support vessels sits in a shock- and vibration-isolated cabinet shielded from RF interference. This equipment consists of modems, a beacon receiver, terminal controller antenna-control unit, power conditioning, support equipment, and cables.

The system combines MD-1366 enhanced bandwidth efficient modem for static operations and the SLM-565A dSCP modem for dynamic operation. Equipment is hardened to the naval environment, and all control comes over a local area network vial a PC-based graphic user interface.

On this order L3Harris will do the work in Palm Bay, Fla., and should be finished by August 2021. For more information contact L3Harris Technologies Inc. online at http://harris.com, or SPAWAR at www.spawar.navy.mil.

About the Author

John Keller | Editor-in-Chief

John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.

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