Northrop Grumman has successfully delivered the fifth payload for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) program to prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

The fifth payload was delivered to Lockheed Martin at the end of September and is currently going through space vehicle level integration. The launch of the fifth AEHF satellite is tentatively planned for 2018.

 “This milestone for AEHF exemplifies Northrop Grumman’s continued support to building satellite communications systems that will provide critical, reliable, protected communications to the nation’s warfighters and to our international partners,” said Cyrus Dhalla, vice president, communications systems, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

One AEHF satellite provides greater total capacity than the entire 5-satellite legacy Milstar constellation with individual user data rates up to 10 times greater than seen on the Milstar system. The higher data rates will permit two-way, jam-resistant transmission of tactical military communication such as real-time video, battlefield maps and targeting data.

In addition to its critical tactical mission, AEHF also will provide the survivable, protected and endurable communications to the National Command Authority including senior leader conferencing in all levels of conflict.

Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite payloads contain a full range of features that protect against a wide range of threats. These capabilities include anti-jamming, low probability of detection and intercept, rapid recovery during a nuclear event, the ability to operate through scintillation, greatly reduced risk from physical attack to ground systems, and significant protection from cyber-attack.