Raytheon [RTN] will perform in October an over-the-air demonstration of its Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) software running on terminal hardware, an important milestone for the company, according to a company executive. 

Raytheon Vice President for Integrated Communication Scott Whatmough told Defense Daily on Aug. 28 the company has completed the production representative version of its FAB-T modem processing group hardware, which will run the software for the demo at Raytheon’s satellite test facility in Marlborough, Mass.

“We just delivered the final circuit card into the test facility…and that’s what we’ll be using for the over-the-air demo in October,” Whatmough said.

Whatmough said Raytheon’s satellite test facility was designed specifically for the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) communication satellite system. The company will be able to take its modem and software through a legacy Milstar antenna, Whatmough said, log onto the satellite and then pass data back and forth. Whatmough said Raytheon will perform the demo on a motion table, which he said will help demonstrate the capability to operate as a FAB-T mode on the network in real-life conditions.

Whatmough said Raytheon also recently performed an important step of locking down its FAB-T information security system, which he said is key because you can’t log on to the EHF or AEHF satellite until the government customer is clear you have a system that is safe to operate. Raytheon also completed a significant milestone in June, Whatmough said, when it completed the critical design review (CDR), which also included a software demo. 

Raytheon and Boeing [BA] are the companies vying for the FAB-T contract, which the Air Force declined to provide a value for. FAB-T is to provide nuclear-survivable terminals capable of using multiple waveforms and communicating with both legacy Milstar and next-generation Advanced EHF (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. 

The Air Force said it anticipates concluding its source selection for FAB-T by December. The service has an initial operational capability (IOC) goal of fiscal year 2019 for FAB-T.

Whatmough said while Raytheon and Boeing are competing for the same award, they are competing under different contract requirements and schedules. A Boeing executive in August said the company was close to completing its system design and development (SDD) phase after finishing what the company calls functional qualification testing three weeks ago. 

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.