Green light for MBITR satellite upgrade
Coalition forces will finally receive the SATCOM Integrated Waveform (IW) upgrade for the JTRS Enhanced MBITR (JEM) communications system following its certification by the US Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC).
JEM manufacturer Thales Communications had originally hoped to gain certification and begin deliveries of the next-generation SATCOM IW to military users by the end of 2010. Sources told Shephard that the programme had suffered from unforeseen delays.
However, the go-ahead now means the company is in a position to provide the upgrade to US forces as well as coalition partners around the world including the UK. A spokesperson for Thales
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