Defence firms team up to develop protected Satcom on the move

Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and TeleCommunications Systems (TCS) have combined forces to develop a low-cost satellite terminal that provides protected communications on the move.

Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman saw a need for on-the-move ground terminals, and began to explore whether they could display their expertise in protected communications to build a terminal using cost as the key performance parameter. The goal was to drive the cost down by reusing technologies that had already been proven and built, Gasper Gulotta, TCS senior director for professional services, told IHS Jane's .

In 2010 TCS was asked to manufacture and sell the low-cost terminal (LCT) based on the company's experience with its secure internet protocol router/non-classified internet protocol router (SIPR/NIPR) access point, or SNAP, terminal. "As we took that on we [saw] an opportunity for us to take a very well-known product, the SNAP terminal, and apply some of the components that are exportable from the LCT or the P-COTM [Protected Communications On The Move] terminal and apply it to the mission that the SNAP terminal handles, which is really a communications at the quick halt. You can stop, set up a terminal in 15-30 minutes and be communicating," Gulotta said.