Not DirecTV, more like DirecAssult......................................
flatoday.com
For December 4, 1997
Hughes selected to develop Global Broadcast Service system for U.S. military forces
System will hasten and tailor the transmission of data to U.S. forces
Hughes news release
RESTON, Va. -- Hughes Information Systems (HIS), a unit of Hughes Aircraft Company, has been selected as the prime contractor for the U.S. military's Global Broadcast Service (GBS) contract, a six-year project that will dramatically accelerate and customize the delivery via satellite of video, imagery and data to U.S. forces. While the initial contract value is less than $100 million, additional contract options will be worth an estimated $200 million over the next several years.
The GBS will be a high throughput system, using a very wide bandwidth, for the rapid broadcast of high-volume military information, including maps, intelligence data, weather reports and air tasking orders. The system will enable information to be delivered in seconds, compared to minutes or hours needed in the past, using a common desktop computer interface. In addition, users will be able to create profiles to customize the data they need.
"Hughes Aircraft and its teammates (Computing Devices International, GTE, Stanford Telecom, BBN and ALPHA Informatics) are delighted to have been selected to deliver to the U.S. military the revolutionary capabilities that the GBS system provides," said Bob O'Rourke, HIS vice president and GBS program manager.
"We have worked hard to develop a design concept that maximizes the use of rapidly evolving commercial broadcast and web technology, while ensuring that unique military requirements, such as security and ruggedness, are fulfilled."
The contract awarded to HIS by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles will provide the development, system integration and engineering, and procurement of hardware and software for the GBS system, both at the broadcast and receive ends. Training, maintenance and logistics support will also be provided.
Three Ultra-High Frequency Follow-on (UFO) satellites, being developed and launched for the U.S. Navy by Hughes Space and Communications Company, will carry the GBS capability. GBS enables U.S. troops around the world to receive data at rates of more than 23 Mbs via satellite. The first GBS satellite is scheduled for launch in 1998.
Hughes Defense Communications leads the ground receive terminal portion of the system and Hughes Technical Services Company provides the integrated logistics support and operations and maintenance.
Members of the Hughes GBS team bring a comprehensive understanding of the requirements and challenges of a worldwide GBS system, O'Rourke said.
"Our experience with direct broadcast satellite communications systems, including DIRECTV and earlier phases of GBS, prepares us to offer on-time delivery of an open-architecture, integrated and evolutionary system at the leading edge of the rapidly advancing commercial market," he said.
The Hughes team has worked closely with Microsoft as that company continues the development of its Windows NT version 5.0 and its components.
"As leading members in the broadcast industry, we are working with other leaders, such as Microsoft, to offer a solution that is based upon the direction that the industry and the marketplace are taking in the longer term."
O'Rourke said the competition for this contract has been "long and tough against world-class companies such as Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin."
HIS, with headquarters in Reston, Va., is a unit of Hughes Aircraft Company, which is a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation. The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock.
NOTE TO EDITORS: This contract award was originally announced by the Department of Defense on November 17, 1997. In making the announcement, DoD stated HIS is being awarded an $84,760,754 cost-plus-award-fee contract, with an initial obligation of $10,826,400. |
