SAN DIEGO, 5 Feb. 2007. Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has developed the first phase of its net-centric test bed (NTB), which it has used to test and demonstrate components of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Navy Multiband Terminal. The AEHF Navy Multiband Terminal is a $1 billion-plus U.S. Navy program that the company is pursuing.
Harris announced the facility completion during West 2007 (Harris Booth #1120), being held January 31 - February 2 at the San Diego Convention Center. West 2007 is co-sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) International and the U.S. Naval Institute.
Located in Palm Bay, Florida, the Harris NTB is a 25,000 square foot, multi-million dollar facility used to demonstrate integrated, network-centric communications and information systems solutions that support the critical missions of military, intelligence and other government customers.
The advanced communications capabilities of the NTB will be integrated with Lockheed Martin's Global Vision Center, located at the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego, California, to demonstrate the Harris Navy Multiband Terminal prototype. Part of Lockheed Martin's Global Vision Network, the SPAWAR Global Vision Center provides a real-time, network-centric environment that permits demonstrations and collaboration among Lockheed Martin, the Navy and industry partners across several U.S. sites and locations around the world. Harris announced in August 2006 that it added Lockheed Martin to its AEHF Navy Multiband Terminal team.
"We are very excited about this new facility, which enables us to demonstrate advanced communications technologies to our government customers and select government contractors," said Sheldon Fox, vice president and general manager of Department of Defense Programs, Harris Government Communications Systems Division. "The Harris NTB enables us to offer a broad spectrum of demonstration capabilities for complete, highly integrated communications solutions."
The completed first phase of the NTB incorporates the newest military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) equipment and seamlessly demonstrates integrated wideband/protected MILSATCOM frequencies from 4 GHz through 44 GHz. Equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation -- including ship motion simulators, complex waveform emulators and far-field antenna ranges -- the facility supports a broad spectrum of MILSATCOM technologies to validate forward-looking technologies.
Phase II of the NTB, now underway, will demonstrate advanced line-of- sight/beyond line-of-sight communications equipment and technologies for data links, high-capacity backbone networks, edge networks and sensor networks that cover the HF to 14 GHz frequency bands. Phase III will incorporate security and enterprise/networking technologies that create integrated systems solutions for Harris customers.
