The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon a $51.7 million contract to develop and deliver satellite communications antennas for military aircraft.
Under the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, the RTX company will provide multi-band Satcom antennas for the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet program, the Department of Defense said.
The required antennas must be capable of communicating with multiple commercial space internet constellations in various orbital regimes, such as low and medium Earth orbits, and Ku and Ka bands.
The communications hardware is also expected to be compatible with modems and transceivers that the service is developing under the DEUCSI effort.
Raytheon will work on the project in McKinney, Texas, and the agreement’s performance period will run until May 22, 2027.
The government conducted a competitive acquisition process for the requirement and received 15 proposals.