Lockheed Martin Sanders has joined Raytheon in competing for the right to further develop an advanced airborne battlefield communications network for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The Lockheed Martin unit received $17.6 million for Phase II of the three-part Airborne Communications Node (ACN) demonstration. DARPA had previously awarded Raytheon $15.2 million to continue the research. During Phase I, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin Sanders and TRW competitively developed concepts for ACN payloads. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Sanders will develop hardware, including antennas and signal processing techniques. Phase II runs for about two years, with one contractor then selected for Phase III, which includes fabrication and flight evaluation of an ACN payload. An acquisition programme could follow.
To be flight tested on a manned aircraft, the ultimate goal is to integrate the ACN payload on a Northrop Grumman Global Hawk-class unmanned air vehicle. A smaller, less-capable, ACN is envisioned for helicopters and tactical UAVs.
Source: Flight International
