CARLSBAD, Calif., 22 July 2008.ViaSat Inc. won a $9.8 million order for Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) Production Transition Terminals (PTTs). MIDS JTRS is designed to enable the warfighter to use multiple JTRS approved waveforms, such as the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW), and to increase channel information throughput and security.
With the Department of Defense advocating the software-defined radio approach of JTRS, the Navy has awarded contracts to engineer and qualify JTRS compliance into the next-generation MIDS.
ViaSat is one of two U.S. government-qualified developers of the MIDS JTRS or MIDS-J terminal, designed to be plug-and-play interchangeable for U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force platforms.
This award is a follow-on to the initial PTT order received in June 2007 from the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), San Diego.
The terminal is designed to operate using new communication protocols and perform new applications that will more easily integrate into many host platforms.
This PTT order is for terminals with the three-channel 2 MHz -2GHz capability as well as terminals with Link 16 and TACAN functionality only.