Key Component of US Navy Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Programme
ViaSat has received a follow-on contract from Lockheed Martin to deliver datalink communications for the integration and test phase of the US Navy’s (USN) Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) programme.
LRASM is the key pillar of the USN’s Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) effort to improve its ability to engage and destroy high-value targets from extended range. The ViaSat datalink solution will enable LRASM to communicate with launch platforms and provide growth opportunities in the future. The contract calls for ViaSat to provide weapon data ink L-Band units to support the overall missile test programme’s datalink communications requirements, as well as engineering support for software enhancements and flight test support.
“Being selected by Lockheed Martin to provide the datalink unit for LRASM is a huge milestone for us,” Ken Peterman, President, Government Systems at ViaSat, observed. “It validates our approach to the weapon datalink market by leveraging next-generation technology from our Battlefield Awareness and Targeting System (BATS) product line. The ViaSat datalink units provide highly-advanced communications capabilities and enhanced performance beyond previous weapon datalink offerings, as well as a significantly reduced form factor with minimal development expense to our customers.”
Tim Mahon