NAVAL BASE VENTURA COUNTY, POINT MUGU, Calif., Nov.
16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Navy's Communications
Satellite Program Office, PMW 146, and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
handed over full operational control of the fifth Mobile User
Objective System (MUOS) satellite to the Naval Satellite Operations
Center (NAVSOC).
The October 11 milestone followed
the successful completion of the MUOS-5 satellite's on-orbit
testing and delivery of all operational products needed to "fly"
the satellite. In April, the Navy, working with Army Forces
Strategic Command (ARSTRAT), configured one of MUOS-5's two
communications payloads – its legacy Ultra High Frequency (UHF)
payload – for testing.
The handover of this satellite to NAVSOC clears the final hurdle
allowing for ARSTRAT to provide the payload's final configurations
to support the Navy's legacy UHF satellite communications
mission.
"Today, every Combatant Command in aircraft, ships, submarines,
ground vehicles, as well as by troops in the field and special
operations, rely upon secure, beyond-line-of-sight UHF satellite
communications provided by the Navy," said Mark Woempner, Lockheed Martin's director for
Narrowband Communications. "ARSTRAT's final configuration of
MUOS-5's UHF legacy payload allows the satellite to fully support
our military forces in these Combatant Commands."
Eventually, legacy narrowband UHF communications will transition
to next generation Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA)
capabilities. To facilitate that transition, all five on-orbit MUOS
satellites were intentionally designed with two communications
payloads to support both Legacy UHF and WCDMA.
Early combatant commander testing of the on-orbit WCDMA payloads
began in July 2016. The new MUOS
capabilities will revolutionize communications for mobile forces
with simultaneous, crystal-clear voice, video and mission data over
a secure high-speed Internet Protocol-based system. Users with new
MUOS terminals will be able to seamlessly connect beyond
line-of-sight around the world and into the Global Information
Grid, as well as into the Defense Switched Network, as part of the
Navy's worldwide cellular network.
Once fully operational, the MUOS network of five on-orbit
satellites and four relay ground stations will provide more than 10
times the communications capacity of the legacy UHF satellite
system. MUOS' network already provides near-global coverage,
including communications into polar regions. MUOS also has
demonstrated successful communication of Integrated Broadcast
Service (IBS) messages.
"We continue to receive great and constructive feedback on MUOS'
capabilities as more users try it out. Similar to a civilian
cellular phone service, upgrades to this new secure global military
cellular network are ground-based and designed in an AGILE software
development environment. We continue to make upgrades to the system
based on user needs and look forward to bringing its full
capabilities to our warfighters," Woempner said.
Today there are more than 55,000 radio terminals currently
fielded that can be upgraded to be MUOS-compatible, with many of
them requiring just a software upgrade.
The Navy's Program Executive Office for Space Systems and its
Communications Satellite Program Office responsible for the MUOS
program are based in San Diego,
California. Lockheed Martin assembled and tested all five
now-on-orbit MUOS satellites at its Sunnyvale, California, facility.
For additional MUOS information, photos and video visit:
www.lockheedmartin.com/muos
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research,
design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of
advanced technology systems, products and services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin