U.S. government senior-leader aircraft to get Viasat global in-flight connectivity
NewsSeptember 12, 2018
CARLSBAD, Calif. Communications company Viasat has won an eight-year, firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to provide U.S. government senior leader and VIP aircraft with global in-flight broadband and connectivity services.
According to company officials, Viasat's Hybrid Adaptive Network (HAN) uses hybrid terminal technology to enable automatic and rapid in-flight network switching across Ku- and Ka-band satellite networks and can work with multiple orbital regimes for optimized global roaming connectivity. In addition, the HAN uses layered resilience to mitigate against congestion, intentional and unintentional interference sources, and rapidly evolving cyberthreats in highly contested environments.
Viasat information shows that the service enables in-flight broadband connection to stream full-motion high-definition video for en-route command and control (C2) missions; two-way communications through HD video conference calling or voice over internet protocol calls; and real-time intelligence and other location-based, live-sensor data for critical decision-making.
The base year award value of the contract is $55.6 million, with the initial period of performance running, through August 2019; the base year and seven 12-month option periods have a total cumulative value of $559.8 million.
