Duluth, Ga., 22 June 2006. DataPath Inc., a global solution provider for mission-critical communications, has announced that the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) in Fort Monmouth, N.J., has awarded the company a $72.9 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide specialized satellite earth terminals and support services for the Joint Network Node (JNN) program. The contract includes 92 DataPath ET 3000 Portables, which the U.S. Army refers to as Satellite Communications Transportable Terminals (STT), and two DataPath DKET 4530Ku Mobiles, which the U.S. Army calls Unit Hub SATCOM trucks.
The JNN program provides portable communications to the U.S. Joint Forces deployed in Iraq, including the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry, 101st Airborne, 4th Infantry and 10th Mountain Division, among others.
"Our troops require reliable beyond-line-of-sight, mobile communications on the battlefield," says John Lane, project leader, Commercial SATCOM Terminal Program, Army. "Satellite communications networks offer flexibility and high bandwidth for more advanced applications, no matter where our forces are located. The JNN program has been a tremendous success in moving the network out to the end-user of mission-critical information, transforming the speed of deployment and coordination capabilities of our forces."
"DataPath has become a key player in enabling network-centric operations, delivering critical ground-based satellite communications infrastructure for the JNN," says Andrea Maléter, technical director of the Space and Telecommunications Division at Futron Corporation, an aerospace and technology management consulting firm that tracks the satellite communications market.
The DataPath 3000 is a compact trailer-based satellite earth terminal that enables secure, robust voice, video and data communications where no infrastructure exists.
