Lockheed Martin was awarded a $2 billion contract to lead the development of an advanced, high-bandwidth, global communications network for the U.S. Air Force.
The 10-year contract for the TSAT Missions Operations System (TMOS) program will link the Transformational Satellite Communications Systems (TSAT) program to the Global Information Grid (GIG) and is expected to commence operations in 2014. TSAT will provide mobile forces a high-bandwidth connection to the GIG from virtually anywhere in the world, while protecting its users from enemy detection, eavesdropping and jamming. Its high-capacity links are expected to significantly increase the military’s capability to support its deployed forces with real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Lockheed Martin said work on the TMOS program will be conducted in San Jose and Los Angeles, California to start and will eventually involve more than 300 people including subcontractors working around the country. The Lockheed Martin-led team includes leading defense and commercial IT experts, including Northrop Grumman, Telcordia Technologies, SAIC and Verizon.
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- In late 2003, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) selected Science Applications International Corporation’s (SAIC’s) to build its Global Information Grid – Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) system. GIG-BE is designed to enhance the Defense Department’s network infrastructure to operate at 10 Gbps in support of voice, data, video, and transport services among more than 100 key locations worldwide. Analysts estimated the cost of the project in the hundreds of millions of dollars. SAIC has awarded a number of subcontracts under the project: Ciena for optical transport systems; Sprint/Sycamore for optical digital cross connect equipment; Juniper Networks for IP routers; and Qwest Government Services/Cisco Systems for multi-service provisioning platforms. Ciena confirmed that it will supply its CoreStream optical transport and switching platform for deployment in DISA’s GIG-BE optical IP terrestrial network. Juniper Networks also confirmed that it was been awarded a multi-year contract for its M- and T- series routing platforms. Deployment commenced in early 2004.
- The Global Information Grid – Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) program reached full operational capability as of December 2005