Contract Award: Windmill to provide Suitcase Portable Receive Suites for US Central Command Special Forces in Afghanistan

References: Windmill (1)

News Report

As announced in a recent press release, Windmill has received a $9 million order for their KA-10 Suitcase Portable Receive Suite (SPRS) for Central Command Special Forces in Afghanistan. The order included KA-10s, training, and product support.

The System

Windmill's KA-10 SPRS is a highly-portable, rugged satellite receiver system developed to support Special Operations forces deployed overseas. The battle-ready KA-10 conveniently brings crucial command center information and data to the in-field warfighter, substantially improving mission success probabilities and saving lives.

The KA-10 can withstand a variety of adverse environmental conditions, including high humidity, blowing sand, rain, and extreme heat/cold. The SPRS has passed all MIL-STD-810F requirements.

The SPRS has Global Broadcast Service (GBS) broadcast reception capability, at up to 45Mb/sec, from UHF Follow-On (UFO) and Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) transponders. The SPRS supports operation with High-Assurance IP Encryption (HAIPE) to support a single security enclave from Secret up to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information classification.

Satellite acquisition time is approximately 3 minutes. The SPRS is designed to be battery operated. This truly portable unit weighs 32 pounds in tactical carry mode. Accessible GBS products include unmanned aircraft systems video and imagery; weather, terrain, geospatial and mapping information; Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) imagery; streaming video, web content replication and other large files.

The Context

Windmill developed the KA-10 SPRS under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, and Windmill was recognized with a 2011 Tibbett's Award from the Small Business Administration for excellence in the SBIR program.

Operational field evaluations of the initial KA-10 were conducted under the Defense Acquisition Challenge Program. Windmill is currently developing an even smaller, more specialized version using funding from the Air Force's Warfighter Rapid Acquisition Program.