Making FAB-T a Reality

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The Air Force is expected to decide in September whether to bring on Raytheon to develop advanced communications terminals to support the US military’s nuclear chain of command under the Family of Advanced Beyond-Line-of-Sight Terminals program. Boeing, which won the original FAB-T contract in 2002, claims it has worked through the pitfalls that have delayed the maturation if its terminal designs and caused the Air Force to seek an alternate supplier in case the company couldn’t overcome the challenges. Meanwhile, would-be alternate Raytheon says its FAB-T offering already meets 80 percent of the FAB-T requirements. “The objective of awarding an alternate source contractor is to reduce risk,” an Air Force spokeswoman told the Daily Report. This strategy, she added, “enables two sources for FAB-T development to ensure at least one vendor is capable of meeting the warfighter’s delivery need date for command post terminals.” The Air Force wants to field an initial FAB-T capability by 2017, with full operations by 2020. Click here to read the full report.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org