Comtech Mobile Datacom Corp.’s Government Solutions segment, has been awarded a five-year, Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract for providing Blue Force Tracking (‘BFT-1’) Aviation Terminals to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
Blue Force Tracking is a United States military term for a GPS-enabled system that provides military commanders and forces with location information about friendly (and despite its name, also hostile) military forces.
In NATO military symbology, blue typically denotes friendly forces. The system provides a common picture of the location of friendly forces and therefore is referred to as the “Blue Force” tracker.
As military helicopters have a need for locating friendly and hostile forces on aircraft displays and in their command and control centers, the AVX-06 aviation tracking and messaging transceiver is designed for mobile tracking and messaging applications on fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
(Learn More, courtesy of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and YouTube)
The AVX-06 transceiver enables the display of positions for U.S. and coalition air and ground forces and C2 communication through its integration in the U.S. Army’s Blue Force Tracking system.
Missions can be planned knowing exactly where forces are, and messages can be sent to individual assets in near real-time. The link to ground forces and other aircraft enables faster clearance of fire determinations and the ability to get on target quicker via messages that are communicated securely among users within seconds.
Under this contract, DLA will procure Comtech’s AVX-06-203 Aviation Satellite Communication Transceivers. This contract has a single Five (5)-year base period from April 20, 2017 through April 19, 2022 and a maximum value of $4.2 million.
This contract is in addition to the previously announced $42.7 million contract to provide sustainment support for the BFT-1 program.
“We are extremely pleased with the confidence that the Defense Logistics Agency has placed in Comtech’s BFT-1 technology,” said Fred Kornberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp.
“This award demonstrates the critical role that our Mobile Datacom organization continues to play in providing the U.S. Military with trusted BFT-1 satellite tracking communication capability.”
Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation, a Germantown, Maryland-based company, is engaged in the provision of satellite-based packet data communication systems and location and messaging services through the use of advanced communication and network technology.
