Lockheed receives fifth AEHF payload
Northrop Grumman has delivered the fifth payload for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) programme to Lockheed Martin, the company announced on 6 March.
The payload was delivered in September 2016 and is currently going through space vehicle level integration. It is currently scheduled for launch in 2018.
The AEHF network is designed to protect military communications against a full spectrum of threats, including cyber-attacks, eavesdropping and high-tech jammers.
One AEHF satellite provides greater total capacity than the entire five-satellite legacy Milstar constellation with individual user data rates up to ten times greater than seen on the Milstar system. The higher data rates will allow two-way, jam-resistant transmission of tactical military communication such as real-time video, battlefield maps and targeting data.
Cyrus Dhalla, vice president, communications systems, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, said: 'This milestone for AEHF exemplifies Northrop Grumman's continued support to building satellite communications systems that will provide critical, reliable, protected communications to the nation's warfighters and to our international partners.'
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