Raytheon has achieved a new milestone in the development of the US Air Force’s (USAF) Global Positioning System Next Generation Operational Control System, or GPS OCX, it announced on 27 June.
The component-level ‘run for record’ test of the OCX Black Wide Area Network (B-WAN), which provides network connectivity to unclassified external interfaces for GPS OCX, has now been completed. The test included cyber controls and mission capability, and was completed with a 100 percent requirement pass rate.
B-WAN will be deployed as part of OCX Block 0 and Block 1. The first use of B-WAN will be in the Block 0 Launch and Checkout System, to be delivered in 2017. This system will take GPS III satellites into early orbit. Block 1 will deliver full OCX capability; it will be delivered along with Block 2, which will include GPS Navigation Warfare enhancements.
Bill Sullivan, GPS OCX vice president and program manager for Raytheon, said: ‘This latest milestone shows that OCX will function securely with external interfaces to GPS, demonstrating the maturity of this critical development programme.’
Raytheon is developing GPS OCX under a contract from the USAF and Missile Systems Center. GPS OCX will offer modernised GPS capabilities, including robust cybersecurity and deployment of jam-resistant, operational military code, or M-code.
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