Rockwell Collins, a leader in the development of extremely high frequency communication terminals, has teamed with Raytheon Co. on a US Navy Contract for the first of a two-phase process to develop the Advance Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Navy Multi-band Terminal (NMT), the Navy’s most advanced satellite communication (SATCOM) system. Rockwell Collins and Raytheon have been involved in the Milstar EHF program since its inception and have been providing the US military with Ground and Airborne Command Post terminals, Secure Mobile Anti-jam Reliable Tactical terminals, Single Channel Anti-jam Man-portable terminals and Navy EHF SATCOM terminals. Rockwell Collins will lead the National Security Agency (NSA) terminal security certification process; design and build essential RF hardware; and develop the design concept for topside adaptive noise canceling system. “Rockwell Collins and Raytheon are the only two companies to date to successfully implement the Milstar waveform in deliverable terminals,” said Greg Churchill, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Rockwell Collins Government Systems. “We are a leader in protected, military satellite terminals, software reprogrammable radio architectures and other communication systems, and, when combined with Raytheon, we are the most experienced team for this project.” NMT’s first stage launches with a 30-month development period, during which AEHF SATCOM system prototypes will be built. Prototypes will then be tested against competition in a simulated “fly off” to determine final production award for the NMT system. More than 300 NMT systems are scheduled for production through 2010. NMT will replace several existing SATCOM communication terminals and antennas. Additional benefits to the Navy include increased ship stealth through decreased ship signature, or “footprint.”