PANTHER II VSAT Addresses Need for Reliable, Portable, Flexible Comms
L3Harris Technologies has received a five-year contract from the USMC, with a ceiling of $88 million (€74.2 million) for a small, lightweight satellite terminal that delivers extremely reliable high-bandwidth voice, video and data, the company announced on 4 November. The initial delivery order is valued at $21 million.
The company will provide its PANTHER II Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) as part of the Marine Corps Wideband Satellite-Expeditionary (MCWS-X) programme. The MCWS-X terminal consists of the 96cm PANTHER II VSAT in a tri-band configuration, with multiple modular modems and power options. A custom backpack is provided that allows any combination of band and modem to be carried in a lightweight single-mission configuration.
“The L3Harris PANTHER II answers the Marine Corps’ need for an extremely capable, light weight, easily deployable satellite terminal that meets the demand for reliable high bandwidth voice, video and data,” explained Chris Aebli, President, Global Communication Systems. “Our leadership in designing and delivering innovative satellite terminal solutions, and continued investment in emerging technology, ensures our forces are always able to connect through the chaos with our family of SATCOM products.” To enable access to global service, the system is certified on a wide range of commercial and government satellite networks.
