ThinKom Solutions, Inc. has announced that Northrop Grumman has specified a ThinAir© Ka2517 phased-array satellite antenna to provide beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) connectivity for the company’s MQ-4C Triton flying test bed (FTB).
Northrop Grumman uses a twin-engine Gulfstream IV as an FTB for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton, autonomous, high-altitude, long-endurance, maritime surveillance system. The FTB is outfitted with the core mission payload capabilities that are on the Triton unmanned aircraft and is used to demonstrate current capabilities, provide risk reduction for new capabilities and serve as a developmental test bed for emerging capabilities.
Based on ThinKom’s patented VICTS (Variable Inclination Continuous Transverse Stub) technology, the Ka2517 is a commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS), wideband, satellite antenna system that provides global, pole-to-pole, in-flight connectivity (IFC) with extremely high throughput rates using military and commercial, Ka-band, satellite networks. Ka2517s are operational on hundreds of commercial airliners and military aircraft with industry-leading MTBF metrics.
Initial flights of the Triton FTB with the ThinKom antenna are expected to take place in the second quarter of 2022.
“The Ka2517 antenna is modem- and network-agnostic, enabling voice, data and streaming video with seamless interoperability on GEO and NGSO constellations. It also has the RF performance to operate effectively using frequency-hopping protected waveforms and supports industry-leading low probability of intercept (LPI) and low probability of detection (LPD) requirements,” said Bill Milroy, CTO and chairman of ThinKom.