Pentagon acquisition officials cleared the Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) to enter low-rate initial production following a successful review, officials at Hanscom AFB, Mass., announced. “FAB-T will allow seamless, uninterrupted command and control of our strategic forces in any denied-access arena,” Space and Missile Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves said in the Oct. 26 release. The Air Force awarded Raytheon a $298 million production contract for 23 airborne terminals, and 61 ground stations in 2014. The airborne terminals will equip the Air Force E-4B and Navy E-6B Mercury nuclear command and control fleets. The overall $4.6 billion FAB-T program will enable the President and national leaders to secure satellite communications, as well as command and control of US strategic forces, even in a nuclear environment. In addition to AEHF and Milstar satcom, FAB-T will give leaders secure voice conferencing, emergency action message transmission, satellite telemetry, and strategic force report-back capabilities, according to the release. The Air Force also intends to equip its nuclear-capable B-2 and B-52 bombers, and RC-135 ISR aircraft with FAB-T terminals under a future contract. Full operational capability is planned for 2022.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.