NEW YORK, 3 Oct. 2005. L-3 Communications announced today that its Communication Systems-West and Communication Systems-East divisions have been awarded contracts by The Boeing Co. for the P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program.
The initial contracts for the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase are valued at $17.4 million.
L-3 CS-West will provide high-rate communications using the Common Data Link (CDL), and L-3 CS-East will provide a suite of high performance, rugged, magnetic disk storage systems from its Strategic/Tactical Airborne Recorder (S/TAR) product line for the P-8A MMA.
The P-8A MMA, a modified Boeing Next Generation 737-800, is the U.S. Navy's next-generation maritime surveillance aircraft and brings together a highly reliable airframe with a state-of-the-art open architecture mission system. This combination, coupled with next-generation sensors, will dramatically improve Anti-Submarine Warfare, or ASW, and Anti-Surface Warfare, or ASuW, and armed Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
Current plans call for the Navy to procure 108 P-8A MMAs to replace its fleet of 169 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. Additionally, several potential international customers have indicated their interest in this new aircraft.
L-3 CS-West's CDL will provide airborne dissemination of sensor data through its high rate data link. This capability expands the P-8A MMA's support to carrier strike groups and ground forces and is a transformational enabler for Network Centric Warfare operations. The operational benefits are improved platform survivability, decreased targeting timeline, improved situational awareness and post-strike battle damage assessment, as well as a communications relay for battle group assets via direct linkage or through Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) third-party relays.
"L-3 CS-West's third-generation CDL system, featuring software-programmable modem and wideband mobile router technology, gives the U.S. Navy the ability to execute its Over The Horizon communications mission more effectively than is possible with any other competitive data link currently offered," said Curtis Brunson, president of L-3 CS-West.
CDL is a family of communication systems that forms the basis for the Department of Defense and NATO STANAG 7085 interoperable secure digital data links supporting manned and unmanned ISR missions. L-3 CS-West's CDL terminals are in production for the Vertical Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV), Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) and Hunter UAVs, and for the P-3 Orion, Guardrail, ARL, Apache, Black Hawk and F-18E/F manned platforms, at data rates up to 274 Mbps.
As part of the SDD phase, L-3 CS-East will provide the Acoustic Data Recorder (ADR), Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and Network System Storage (NSS). This phase includes engineering development as well as the delivery of initial SDD S/TAR(TM) systems. The ADR is part of the acoustic processing subsystem and will be used for storage and replay of ASW data. The DVR is part of the Mission Computing and Display Subsystem (MCDS) and is used to store intelligence data from the MMA radar, electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensor, magnetic anomaly detector and CDL. The NSS is the primary repository for mission data, including mission maps, databases and workstation processing. The S/TAR product is globally recognized as a preferred storage solution in the ISR community. S/TAR systems are currently operational on the F-18E/F, F-16, F-15, C-26, F-18C, JAS 39 and CASA 212.
"We are extremely pleased to join the Boeing P-8A MMA team and continue our long, successful history of supporting Boeing programs," said Greg Roberts, president of L-3 CS-East. "Our S/TAR product line offers the U.S. Navy the latest in storage technology while building on a heritage of 45 years of supplying high performance storage systems. We look forward to participating with Boeing on this critical program."
L-3 Communication Systems-West, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the preeminent supplier of wideband data links and mobile surface and airborne satellite terminals for military applications in the world. L-3 CS-West has over 40 years of experience in providing robust, mobile microwave, satellite terminals and wideband data links for airborne platforms, including manned and unmanned platforms, operating in a variety of environments.
L-3 Communication Systems-East, based in Camden, N.J., designs, develops, produces and integrates communication systems and support equipment for commercial, space, ground, air and naval operations.
Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, secure communications systems, aircraft modernization, training and government services. The company is a leading merchant supplier of a broad array of high technology products, including guidance and navigation, sensors, scanners, fuzes, data links, propulsion systems, simulators, avionics, electro optics, satellite communications, electrical power equipment, encryption, signal intelligence, antennas and microwave components. L-3 also supports a variety of homeland security initiatives with products and services. Its customers include the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, selected U.S. government intelligence agencies and aerospace prime contractors. For more information, see www.L-3Com.com.
