Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract worth a maximum ceiling of $90 million to provide special warfare operators of the United States Air Force (USAF) with Viasat’s Battlefield Awareness Targeting System — Dismounted (BATS-D) handheld Link 16 radios (also known in the U.S. Department of Defense nomenclature as the AN/PRC-161 radio).
In addition to equipment, the IDIQ award covers associated operator training and maintenance.
Infographic of Viasat's Dynamic Video Encoding application. Image is courtesy of the company.
BATS-D is the world’s first and only handheld Link 16 radio and bridges a critical gap between air and ground forces by providing warfighters at the tactical edge with real-time, secure, reliable access to integrated air and ground information for improved situational awareness and enhanced close air support communications.
Ken Peterman, President, Government Systems, Viasat, stated that this IDIQ award demonstrates the value of the AN/PRC-161 handheld Link 16 radio for the unique mission requirements of today’s USAF operators. Today, nearly 2,500 AN/PRC-161 BATS-D radios have been shipped to U.S. warfighters worldwide and the company continues to see strong demand for its use across multiple military branches and among coalition partners as it has the proven ability to significantly enhance situational awareness, improve mission coordination and accelerate decision timelines in a multi-domain battlespace.
