[Satellite Today 07-15-09] Raytheon completed testing of the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite communications production terminals for the U.S. Army, the company announced July 14.

Raytheon, whose terminals are the first AEHF military systems of its kind to enter production, is working under a $97.5 million contract to produce and install AEHF upgrade kits that increase the data rate of existing SMART-T radar systems. This contract, part of an Army indefinite delivery contract announced in 2007, increases the total value awarded to Raytheon to $290 million.

"With the cancellation of the Transformational Communications Satellite system, AEHF solutions are more critical than ever," Jerry Powlen, vice president of network centric systems for Raytheon, said in a statement.