Boeing to prepare Navy P-8A Poseidon multi-mission aircraft for Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) SATCOM
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy aerial surveillance experts are asking the Boeing Co. to prepare installing new Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite communications (SATCOM) avionics aboard P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $19.3 million order last month to the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in Seattle to provide integration and capability assessment of MUOS SATCOM on the P-8A.
MUOS is a UHF communications system that operates at frequencies from 300 MHz to 3 GHz and is replacing the legacy UHF Follow-On (UFO) system before that system reaches its end of life. MUOS is intended to provide mobile users with new capabilities and enhanced mobility, access, capacity, and quality of service.
The MUOS operates as a global cellular service provider to support the warfighter with modern cell phone-like capabilities such as multimedia.
It converts a commercial 3G wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) cellular phone system to a military UHF SATCOM radio system using geosynchronous satellites in place of cell towers. Operating in UHF enables warfighters to communicate in difficult areas like forests where trees could attenuate relatively high-frequency signals.
The P-8A Poseidon is a militarized version of the Boeing 737 single-aisle jetliner hardened for long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. The P-8 is replacing the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion maritime patrol turboprop aircraft.
On this order Boeing will do the work in Seattle and at Patuxent River NAS, Md., and should be finished by March 2027. For more information contact Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at www.boeing.com/company/about-bds, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
