[March 02, 2011]

EMS Technologies to Provide X-band Antenna System for U.S. Military ISR Aircraft

EMS Defense & Space (D&S), a division of EMS Technologies (News - Alert), Inc., announced today that it has received a contract from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to provide an X-band SATCOM antenna system for the RC-12 aircraft, the U.S. military version of the Super King Air 200. Under the terms of the contract, EMS D&S will convert the Wavestorm^TM GS-X antenna to an airborne version, the Wavestorm AS-X, and provide the antenna subsystem including the slot array antenna aperture, antenna control unit, positioner, RF electronics, autonomous navigation and stabilization, and installation support.

EMS's Wavestorm GS-X antenna was developed as a ground-based SATCOM antenna to support wideband communications requirements for systems transmitting across the various X-band constellations including XTAR (News - Alert), Skynet and Wideband Global Satcom. The antenna's low-profile slot-array technology is extremely robust and is designed to enable high bandwidth data transmission for airborne, maritime and ground-based platforms.

"We are very impresse with the performance of EMS's antenna system," says Michael Johnson (News - Alert), program manager, SAIC. "The antenna has undergone several demonstrations that prove it can exceed our data rate requirements and can be rapidly fielded by the military in support of urgent warfighter needs."

"We developed our X-band antenna system to meet the growing need for improvements in the transmission of ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) data around the globe," says Norm Johnson, vice president, Business Development for EMS Defense & Space Division. "Since our first iteration, which included just the slot array antenna aperture, we have continually developed the system to maximize the data rates attainable in such a compact package, making it more desirable than a conventional dish configuration."

The antenna system was successfully demonstrated in the UK over the Skynet 5 constellation- transmitting high quality full-motion video at data rates of up to 14 Mbps. SAIC (News - Alert) is scheduled to begin flying the Wavestorm AS-X on an RC-12 aircraft in April 2011.

About EMS Defense & Space

EMS Defense & Space, a division of EMS Technologies Inc., is a leading supplier of antenna systems and beam management for a broad range of military and commercial applications, including mobile network-centric operations, radar for battlefield visibility and commercial aero connectivity. Defense & Space hardware products and systems enable secure and vital RF links in the air, in space, at sea and on the ground. Visit www.emsdss.com or www.ems-t.com for more information.

Wavestorm is a trademark of EMS Technologies, Inc.

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