[SatNews] The 370 lb. HBSI-PT has the same performance as a 4,000-lb. Mobile (trailer) Terminal (MT).

GATR Technologies® announced today that its Inflatable Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Antenna has been approved for full rate production for the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) High Bandwidth Special Intelligence-Palletized Terminal (HBSI-PT) Program of Record. As part of this program GATR received an initial order for thirty-six (36) 2.4-meter X- and Ku-band terminals to support the USMC’s Radio and Intelligence Battalions. 

The HBSI-PT configuration is a dual-band antenna system with Ku- and X-band capability, plus a colorless transport networking stack which is comprised of a colorless core and three enclave networking group. This USMC HBSI-PT configuration consists of 5 cases (antenna, modem/power, Ku-band, X-band, networking group) weighing under 370 lbs. per terminal. The HBSI-PT has the same performance as a 4,000-lb. Mobile (trailer) Terminal (MT) but packages far below the size of other compact terminals. 

For GATR Technologies, this is the first independent Department of Defense (DoD) Program of Record for their commercial technology, earning a type designator of AN/TSC-212. “The Program of Record means the Marine Corps has vetted GATR’s Inflatable Satellite Antenna (ISA) capabilities and performance through extensive testing to DoD standards such as MIL-STD-810G environmental compliance and ARSTRAT WGS certification,” states Victor Vega, GATR’s Marine Corps Program Manager. “It also means that our commercial technology is now a cataloged system in the DoD logistics stream.” The Marine Corps was able to procure this initial 36 system order via GATR’s $441 million Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract awarded by the U.S. Army Project Manager, Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (PM WIN-T), Product Manager Satellite Communications (PdM SATCOM) earlier this year. 

Marine Corps Systems Command’s (MARCORSYCOM) Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) communications project team, under the direction of Product Manager Networking and Satellite Communications (PdM NSC), manages the HBSI-PT program. The HBSI-PT program is part of a requirement for a family of SATCOM terminals which currently includes the TROJAN SPIRIT LITE (v)1 and (v)3. Because GATR’s groundbreaking technology and extreme weight reduction enables a 2.4-meter aperture antenna to pack into airline-checkable transit cases, the program has shifted away from using the TROJAN solution for the HBSI-PT and will now be using the ISA, which was selected to help achieve the mission of MARCORSYSCOM’s Program Manager Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Communications Command & Control (PM MC3) to “Lighten the MAGTF.” 

GATR Technologies is a small business specializing in supplying inflatable satellite antenna systems to the U.S. Armed Forces; Department of Defense; and diplomatic, humanitarian, and intelligence agencies; with growing demand from international military and humanitarian aid organizations. Paul Gierow, President at GATR Technologies states, “We are proud to serve the American Warfighter with quality communications systems that positively impact the way Marines send and receive information in remote or forward deployed situations.”