The Air Force anticipates concluding its source selection for its Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) program by December, according to a service spokesman.
Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick also said yesterday the service began FAB-T source selection in March, which is to provide nuclear-survivable terminals capable of using multiple waveforms and communicating with both legacy Milstar and next-generation Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites. FAB-T development terminals will operate in fixed and transportable ground installations and aboard B-2 and B-52 bombers, RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and the E-4B National Airborne Command Post and E-6B “Take Charge and Move Out” aircraft fleets.
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| The Air Force’s N404, a Boeing 707 test aircraft, tests FAB-T terminals. Photo: Boeing. |
Gulick said the Air Force has an initial operational capability (IOC) goal of fiscal year 2019 for FAB-T.
A Boeing [BA] executive said Monday the company was close to completing its system design and development phase after finishing what it calls the system functional qualification testing two weeks ago (Defense Daily, Aug. 22). According to a December notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities, the first terminal delivery is required by fiscal year 2015.
Boeing and Raytheon [RTN] are the companies vying for the FAB-T contract, which the Air Force declined to provide a value for. The Air Force originally awarded the FAB-T production contract to Boeing over Raytheon in 2002, but the service became concerned Boeing wouldn’t be able to deliver, so it re-opened the competition, allowing Raytheon to get back in the FAB-T business (Defense Daily, June 12, 2012).