At Least 534 Terminals Over Four Years

ViaSat has won a multi-year contract from Boeing for production of the KOR-24A Link 16 Small Tactical Terminal (STT) for AH-64E APACHE GUARDIAN fleets in US and foreign service. The base contract calls for a minimum of 534 terminals to be produced over the next four years and will eventually contain options.

The STTs being acquired will provide a Link 16 common operating picture for enhanced situational awareness and a Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) capability to bridge communications between aircraft and ground manoeuvre forces. The STT was developed with internal funding to meet forecast requirements and is further evidence of the success of ViaSat’s commercial model for government use.

“This award, along with other customers for the STT, has caused us to initiate a pre-planned production ramp up to approximately 35 terminals per month, leveraging investments we have already made in our capacity based upon this forecast demand,” Andy Kessler, business area director for ViaSat’s Next Generation Tactical Datalink Systems, explained. “Coupled with more than 600 terminals already in the field today, we expect to eclipse 1,000 STTs deployed worldwide by early in 2018. At the same time we are deploying the terminals in greater numbers, we will be rolling out additional new capabilities to enhance our products’ capacity to help solve warfighter problems.”

Tim Mahon