Global broadband services and technology company ViaSat Inc announced today that it delivered its 500th production KOR-24A Small Tactical Terminal (STT).
This significant milestone was achieved as ViaSat reached a steady state production rate in excess of 20 terminals per month with a stair-step approach that is expected to produce 40 units per month by the end of the calendar year.
ViaSat’s STT has been in operational service with US and international militaries for five years and has exceeded 1,000,000 operational flight hours in Link 16 networks to date. The STT provides direct Link 16 interoperability among traditional and edge users in combat and between and among US and allied nations.
The STT is currently in service on a wide variety of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft across all military services and special operations forces, as well as small maritime craft, deployable command and control stations and expeditionary gateways. It is also in service with a number of international coalition partners in ground and air applications.
"We see delivering our 500th terminal to our customers as an initial milestone for this highly promising product line as it is the only small form factor Link 16 terminal in steady production in the world today," said Ken Peterman, senior vice president and general manager, government systems division, ViaSat.
"We produced and delivered more than 210 STTs to customers over the course of the past year, and given pending orders and interest both in the US and internationally, we expect a future with a minimum of several thousand STTs being delivered over the next decade."
The STT is a two-channel radio designed to meet the needs of users who have size, weight and power (SWaP) constraints, but also need simultaneous access to Link 16 and either wideband UHF or legacy VHF / UHF. Having both channels in one terminal enables users to consume tactical information from a ground network, such as the single channel ground and airborne radio system (SINCGARS) or soldier radio waveform (SRW), and pass that information over to Link 16 and vice versa, creating a seamless improved situational awareness and a common operational picture between air and ground forces.
It also affords SWaP constrained platforms that need to upgrade to Link 16 a path to add the STT in place of a legacy VHF / UHF radio while maintaining the legacy radio capability using the STT’s second channel without impacting platform SWaP. The terminal is packaged in an affordable, industry standard compact form factor and is ruggedised to meet demanding environmental requirements.