CARLSBAD, Calif., 13 July 2007.ViaSat Inc. has won undefinitized contracts with a value not to exceed $19 million for the Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS). These awards are for non-recurring terminal engineering, terminals to support government air worthiness testing, and the first lot of MIDS JTRS production transition terminals. The award is from the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), San Diego.
ViaSat and Data Link Solutions LLC demonstrated a MIDS JTRS form-fit terminal communicating with a MIDS Low Volume Terminal (LVT) and a Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) beacon simulator. The purpose of the demonstration was to show progress in the integration and qualification of the Link-16 and TACAN waveforms in MIDS JTRS for officials from the JTRS Joint Programs Executive Office (JPEO) and the JTRS board of directors at the Pentagon.
With the Department of Defense advocating the software-defined radio approach of JTRS, the Navy has contracted to engineer JTRS compliance into the next generation MIDS so that it does not lose its investment in thousands of installed MIDS Low Volume Terminals (LVT). ViaSat is one of two U.S. government-qualified developers of the MIDS JTRS terminal, which is designed to be plug-and-play interchangeable for U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force platforms that use MIDS LVT.
The MIDS JTRS terminal is designed to operate using new communication protocols and perform new applications that will more easily integrate into more host platforms.
In addition to Link-16 and TACAN functions, the MIDS JTRS includes three 2 MHz to 2 GHz programmable channels that allow the warfighter to use multiple JTRS approved waveforms, including the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW). Improvements such as Link-16 enhanced throughput, Link-16 frequency re-mapping, and programmable crypto are also being realized in the MIDS JTRS design. The MIDS JTRS terminal is scheduled to complete first article qualification testing late this year.
