The Air Force intends to issue limited sources request for proposals (RFP) to Boeing [BA] and Raytheon [RTN] for the service’s Family of Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) program, according to an Aug. 28 Notice of Contract Action (NOCA) posted on Federal Business Opportunities.
The Air Force said June 4 it intended to award a sole source solicitation to Boeing for FAB-T in the first week of July (Defense Daily, June 11). The Aug. 28 NOCA is almost identical with the one released June 4 with the notable differences being the addition of Raytheon and an anticipated solicitation pushed back to September. Representatives from Boeing and Raytheon did not respond to inquiries by press time. The Air Force declined to comment by press time.
The terminals requested are the Command Post Terminal (CPT) and Advanced Wideband Terminal (AWT) with the Presidential and National Voice Conferencing and Tracking, Telemetry and Commanding capabilities. The first terminal delivery is required in fiscal year 2015.
The CPT upgrades the existing fixed and transportable terminals employed with the ground and airborne command posts. The AWT facilitates over-the-air communication with other FAB-T terminals through the Milstar satellite, which provides secure, jam-resistant and worldwide communications to the United States military.
Boeing said it successfully demonstrated end-to-end communication using a terminal from the FAB-T system and the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite during a late 2011 through February 2012 testing period (Defense Daily, June 27).
This first on-orbit test with the AEHF SV-1 satellite accomplished both extended-data-rate (XDR) and low-data-rate (LDR) communications using the FAB-T system, the company said in a statement.
The Air Force issued an RFP in April for an alternate source for FAB-T after concerns that prime contractor Boeing wouldn’t be able to provide the capability it needs. Raytheon said it delivered its bid for the alternate source in June while Boeing agreed to modify its development contract with the Air Force for FAB-T to fixed-price (Defense Daily, June 4).
FAB-T provides the critical link enabling strategic nuclear command and control using the Milstar Extremely High Frequency (EHF) and AEHF waveforms. This capability enables the command and control of the AEHF and Milstar satellites and provides the president of the United States and leadership the secure communications with forces to direct a strategic nuclear response, according to a Boeing statement.