The feed prototype achieved user data rates reaching an astounding 105 Mbps - more than 12 times the current satellite terminal capability - using a modified, Harris-built Lightweight High Gain X-band Antenna (LHGXA) and a modified AN/TSC-85C terminal operating over the recently launched XTAR-EUR commercial X-band satellite.

"The technologies showcased during the XTAR-EUR demonstrations represent a quantum leap in military satellite communications capabilities for our warfighters," said Dennis Evanchik, LHGXA project manager for the U.S. Army.

"Harris' new selectable polarization X-band feed will allow users to gain full access to both the right-hand and left-hand circular polarized XTAR satellite transponders and thereby fully realize the tremendous capabilities of this high-power satellite."

The new selectable X-band polarization feed can be easily installed on existing LHGXA antennas and will be the standard offering on Harris' newest tactical satellite antenna, the Large Aperture Multiband Deployable Antenna (LAMDA). The 4.9-meter LAMDA supports satellite communications connectivity over commercial C- and Ku-band satellites, as well as both military X-band satellites (DSCS, WGS, NATO, and SKYNET) and the new XTAR satellites.

"This innovative antenna feed reflects our ongoing commitment to developing state-of-the-art products that ensure our nation's warfighters have the most advanced and cost-effective solutions at their disposal," said Dan Pearson, president of the DoD Programs business unit of Harris Corporation's Government Communications Systems Division (GCSD).

"The ability of the military to easily upgrade its deployed fleet of LHGXA antennas with this new capability, while maintaining backward compatibility with its terminals and satellites, is clearly a force multiplier."

More than 125 LHGXAs are currently in the DoD inventory, providing reliable, rugged, high-performance and highly mobile satellite communications connectivity to military personnel worldwide.

This user-friendly, large-aperture antenna, with its 4.9-meter (16-foot)diameter reflector, has the equivalent performance characteristics (e.g., G/T, EIRP) of a 20-foot reflector due to its shaped offset-fed design.

XTAR-EUR, built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), was launched in February 2005 and carries twelve 72 MHz, high-power X-band transponders that provide coverage from Eastern Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, across all of Europe, Africa and the Middle East to Singapore.

It is expected to provide service for nearly 20 years and is fielded by XTAR, LLC, a new satellite communications company committed to serving the long-haul communications, logistics and infrastructure requirements of the U.S. allied governments.

The company is a joint venture between Loral Space & Communications, which owns 56 percent, and HISDESAT, which owns 44 percent. XTAR is headquartered in Rockville, Md., and has offices in Arlington, Va., Palo Alto, Calif. and Madrid, Spain.

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