Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Lockheed Martin secures AEHF production contract worth $2 billion


Lockheed Martin confirmed that it has won a $2 billion production contract to build the fifth and sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellites for the United States Air Force.


According to a statement by Mark Calassa, the Vice President of Protected Communications of Lockheed Martin, the AEHF program has become a critical part of the military space architecture of the United States, especially in recent times when global security relies more and more on protected and resilient satellite communications.

VP Calassa explained that strategic and tactical users across the world need the kind of secure satellite communications that AEHF provides. He believes that the Company's production contract with the USAF confirms the US government's confidence in Lockheed Martin's capability to deliver on the new order.

The AEHF network is a significant improvement over the older Milstar system when it comes to secure military communications. It will ensure safe lines of communication between the president and senior military leaders during nuclear attacks and similarly extreme situations. The first two satellites were placed in orbit in 2010 and 2012, and they are being used by the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Recommended additional readings:

No comments:

Post a Comment