BOSTON, March 21 (UPI) -- Formal testing of the U.S. Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) designed by Raytheon has been completed ahead of schedule.
The NMT is part of a next-generation satellite communications system that will link together Navy ships, submarines and shore installations.
Raytheon said Wednesday it expected the Navy to select an NMT vendor later this year and that the fact the final testing was completed three weeks early was a big plus for the Boston-area company.
"These tests demonstrated that Raytheon's NMT will be ready to deliver on time to meet the Navy's critical schedule and will provide the reliability that warfighters can absolutely depend on," said Raytheon Chairman and CEO William Swanson.
The NMT will integrate a menu of different communications currently requiring three separate terminals, including X-band and Ku-band, and will advance at-sea capabilities from Extremely High Frequency to Advanced Extremely High Frequency. The $1.4 billion NMT program is part of the satellite component of the Navy's FORCEnet concept.
Raytheon said its testing of the NMT met 350 critical requirements, including ability to operate with polar-orbit satellites, the Extended Data Rate (XDR) capability of eight megabits per second, and connectivity with existing Department of Defense satellites.
The tests also confirmed the NMT could connect to Internet Protocol using the Navy's TIP processor, which Raytheon said would greatly simplify shipboard operations while supplying additional bandwidth as well.
