SPAWAR aims at upgrading MIDS LVT terminals to comply with JTRS software and protocols
SAN DIEGO, 31 July 2014.Military communications experts from two U.S. defense contractors are upgrading military tactical data communications terminals to standards of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS).
Officials of the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego, announced a combined $116.8 million contract modification Wednesday to Data Link Solutions LLC in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and to and ViaSat Inc. in Carlsbad, Calif., for the communications upgrade job.
The contract is for systems engineering and integration for the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) Low Volume Terminal (LVT) and the MIDS Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) terminal.
The MIDS-LVT provides secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital data and voice communications capability for Navy, Air Force, and Army platforms. Data Link Solutions is a joint venture of Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems.
Related: Three companies win contracts to upgrade MIDS-LVT situational awareness terminals
MIDS JTRS is a pre-planned upgrade to transform the MIDS-LVT into a four-channel, Software Communications Architecture (SCA)-compliant JTRS terminal while maintaining current and legacy Link 16 and tactical air navigation capability, SPAWAR officials say.
MIDS and Link 16 are wireless real-time military data communications networks that enable warfighters in the air, on the ground, and on the sea to share situational-awareness, targeting, and other tactical information.
The SCA is an open-architecture framework that tells designers how elements of hardware and software are to operate together within a software defined radio (SDR) like the JTRS. SCA governs the structure and operation of JTRS to enable programmable radios to load and run waveform software radio applications, and join radio networks.
Related: ViaSat and Data Link Solutions get orders for MIDS-LVT situational-awareness data terminals
On this contract modification Data Link Solutions will do the work in Wayne, N.J., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, while ViaSat will do the work in Carlsbad, Calif., and should be finished by March 2015.
For more information contact Data Link Solutions online at www.datalinksolutions.net, ViaSat at www.viasat.com, or SPAWAR at www.spawar.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
