Viasat expands SATCOM business with US Marine Corps contract
Viasat's SATCOM service will support marine expeditionary units at the tactical edge. (Photo: USN)
The Viasat contract for SATCOM as a Managed Service is the first commercial offering of its kind implemented by a USMC command.
Viasat announced on 24 January that it was awarded a contract to provide end-to-end SATCOM support as a managed service to the USMC. This follows a successful pilot and follow-on service programme in FY2022 under which Viasat delivered a SATCOM as a Managed Service (SaaMS) solution to I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF).
This represents the first commercially developed SaaMS implemented by a USMC command.
It equips I MEF with a beyond-line-of-sight communications capability that is scalable and deployable to meet contract and operational requirements. The SaaMS capability supports exercises, marine expeditionary units and stand in force rotational deployments with on-demand connectivity and data transport.
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Craig Miller, president of Viasat Government Systems, said 'This is a modern SATCOM service that is designed to deliver the performance, flexibility and rapid deployment capability marine expeditionary forces need – supporting operational readiness and enabling the USMC to easily leverage surge capacity for specific mission needs.'
The SaaMS offers seamless roaming and always-on access across commercial high-capacity networks.
Supported by a network operations centre and security operations centre, the turnkey service will provide the USMC with terminal inventory management, network performance monitoring, cyber security, and cyber defence, as well as engineering, training and logistics support.
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