Support for military SWAN

General Dynamics C4 Systems has been awarded a $15.5m order for satellite communications terminals that will be used in the US Marine Corps' Support Wide Area Network (SWAN) program.

The US Army Communications-Electronics Lifecycle Management Command, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey is the contracting authority. This requirement for equipment to support SWAN is part of a four-year, indefinite quantity/indefinite delivery contract that has a total potential value of $160m if all options are exercised.

The terminals will provide deployed marines robust, beyond-line-of-sight communications for a broad spectrum of information services including video, multimedia, data and imagery.

Under this order, the US Marine Corps is requesting quantities of General Dynamics' Warrior 120 (1.2m) and Warrior 180 (1.8m) very small aperture (VSAT) flyaway terminals and 2.4m trailer-mounted terminals for quick-setup tactical communications.

The Marine's SWAN program is acquiring this equipment through the World-Wide Satellite Systems (WWSS) contract, which is intended to provide communications systems that are capable of overcoming existing and projected bandwidth constraints for Department of Defense transformation programs worldwide. WWSS is available to support all federal communications missions, including disaster relief and homeland security efforts.