Contract Award: ViaSat to provide MIDS-LVT terminals to US Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command

ViaSat MIDS-LVT(1) - Link 16 Tactical Airborne Terminal

References: ViaSat (1,2)

News Report

As appeared on a recent press release, ViaSat has received a delivery order valued at approximately $27.6 million for Multifunctional Information Distribution System – Low Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVT) from the US Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR).

MIDS-LVT terminals provide greater situational awareness in combat for U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and for U.S. defense partners by gathering information into a digital view of the battlefield. The secure, high capacity, jam resistant, wireless system connects users with both digital data and digital voice communications.

The Technology / The System

ViaSat MIDS-LVT terminals arm allied aircraft, ships, and ground platforms with secure, jam-resistant Link 16 communications to give Joint and Coalition forces a clear view of the battlespace and the ability to share voice and digital data.

Link 16 is an improved data link used to exchange near real time information. It is a communication, navigation, and identification system that supports information exchange between tactical command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) systems. The radio transmission and reception component of Link 16 is the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) or its successor, the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS). These high-capacity, ultra high frequency (UHF), line of sight (LOS), frequency hopping data communications terminals provide secure, jamresistant voice and digital data exchange. Link16/MIDS terminals operate on the principal of time division multiple access (TDMA), wherein time slots are allocated among all Link16 network participants for the transmission and reception of data.

The Context

Deliveries of the Lot 12 MIDS-LVT units are scheduled to begin in July 2012 and continue through March 2013.

The MIDS-LVT Lot 12 order includes LVT(1) airborne and LVT(2) ground-based terminals under a five year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract awarded in 2010. This new award includes LVT(1) terminal variants for F/A-18, EA-18G, E-2D, P-3, EP-3E aircraft and MH-60R/S helicopters, along with terminals for the BACN program and U.S. Air Force applications. The MIDS-LVT Lot 12 order also includes LVT(2) terminal variants for various U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps applications, as well as terminals for Japan and spares for Australia under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.