Conceptual image of FORGE. (Image: DoD)
Northrop Grumman has obtained a five-year, $99.6 million contract from the US Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific to provide mission-critical capabilities for Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A).
Northrop Grumman will design, develop, integrate, test and deliver the first of the RGS-A ground stations ‘to support legacy and future missile-launch and missile-warning detection satellites’, the company announced in a 19 April statement.
Relay ground stations are a component of the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution system, by which the US Space Force aims to overhaul missile warning and missile defence systems.
As such, RGS-A should support existing and new satellite constellations while also being capable of handling changes in bandwidth and resiliency.
NIWC Pacific will develop six antennas for RGS-A to enable the Space Systems Command (SSC) Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) ground system to operate legacy satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
The antennas will be deployed to Guam and remotely monitored and operated from the US.
The airborne three-domain, the two ground-based and the ¼ ATR OpenVPX-based cross-domain systems were engineered to provide real-time security across multi-domain operations.
DARPA’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) programme was set up to develop an autonomous tactical network and enable critical data flow in contested environments.
Why space is an essential part of modern military capabilities
Defence-secure mixed reality headsets can save hours, or even weeks, of travel time to fix defunct equipment or get subject experts effectively “on-site” where they are needed.
The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and Drone Restricted Access Using Known Electromagnetic Warfare (DRAKE) counter-UAS (CUAS) systems are mounted and dismounted RF jammers.
Adarga’s Vantage information analysis tool is in service with the UK MoD and individual UK forces. It builds on the company’s Knowledge Platform which processes, organises and analyses open source material, as well as information held by the user’s military, security and intelligence services.
Connect with us on socials
