ViaSat Receives $4.6-M Order for Military Satellite Modems

CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 21, 2006/Satnews Daily/ ― ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has received a $4.6 million order from the Defense Communication and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS) for MD-1366 Enhanced Bandwidth Efficient Modems (EBEM).

ViaSat said the modem is the new Department of Defense standard for high-speed satellite communications at fixed sites, on Navy ships, and for the future Wideband Global System (formerly Wideband Gapfiller). The order for 747 strategic (fixed site) modems brings the total ViaSat orders received to approximately 2,000. Delivery is scheduled to be completed by October 2008.

ViaSat and the U.S. government also have recently completed the First Article Test phase of the MD-1366, verifying performance of the modem through approximately 2,000 different test conditions in the lab, in different operating environments, and onboard a U.S. Navy ship in a one-week sea trial. The tests verified the 64 kbps to 155 Mbps data rate operating range of the modem and its compatibility with a variety of legacy military communications equipment, according to ViaSat.

ViaSat added the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has recognized that the EBEM is Defense Satellite Communications Systems (DSCS) modem certified. The satcom modems enable users to put more carriers on a single transponder. Viasat said the modem also features tighter carrier spacing to save bandwidth, improved signal-to-noise performance for power efficiency, and includes more advanced modulation and code rate options to optimize bandwidth efficiency regardless of the link conditions, whether it might be heavy weather or other variations in satellite signal strength.

“We have developed a state of the art and bandwidth efficient modem that will benefit both the strategic and tactical users,” said Johnny Ng, EBEM program manager at PM DCATS. “The government intends to implement an automatic transmit power control and Ethernet IP into the current baseline.”

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