Airborne and Ground Command Post Terminals
The Milstar Airborne and Ground Command Post Terminals are designed to be rugged, reliable and to survive extreme environments, including modern conventional and nuclear warfare. They provide secure, jam resistant, voice, data and teletype communications to both tactical and strategic commanders. They are also backwards compatible with existing upgraded AFSATCOM Terminals, in order to make full use of existing assets.
In May 1989, the Defense Acquisition Board approved low rate initial production (LRIP) of 43 Command Post terminals. In May 1993, a production contract was awarded for another 44 terminals, bringing the total production quantity to 87. Two prime contractors are producing these terminals, Rockwell International Corporations and Raytheon Company. To date, all LRIP terminals have been delivered and 15 have been installed and are ready for EHF operations. The remaining delivered terminals are currently undergoing installation. Additionally, there are approximately 15 Engineering Development Model (EDM) terminals currently in use by the Milstar community.
The terminals are to be used in several different configurations:
- E-4 National Emergency Airborne Command Post
- EC-135 Airborne Command Post
- Navy E-6 (TACAMO) Command Post
- Fixed Ground sites
- Transportable Ground sites
These terminals are fully compatible with the EHF and UHF frequency bands currently used by Milstar, with a SHF band capability in development.
Installation and checkout testing has been performed on multiple airborne and ground terminals. All tests have been fully successful, proving the viability of the technology and interoperability between the Milstar system and other military communication systems. These successes have allowed the program to continue into the current production contracts, which are proceeding on schedule and under cost.