Intelsat General has confirmed that it had received a one-year contract renewal for satellite capacity from DRS Technologies, one of several previously referenced renewals that were received in the 2014 third quarter under the Future Commercial Satellite Communications Acquisition (FCSA) vehicle.

Under the contract, entering its third year, Intelsat General is supplying satellite services to DRS Technologies, a division of Finmeccanica, in support of U.S. Central Command requirements in Afghanistan. The service, which initially began in August 2012, is utilizing 180 MHz of Ku-band capacity on an Intelsat 9 series satellite over southwest Asia.

"Even though U.S. troops are being withdrawn from Afghanistan, the Pentagon will continue to provide support to Afghan forces," said Kay Sears, President of Intelsat General. "Our satellite connectivity will continue to play a key role in that support."

"DRS and Intelsat General have teamed to support the Allied and Afghan forces with quality satellite capacity that provides connectivity for their critical communications missions," said Jim Scott, General Manager of Global Enterprise Solutions for DRS.

SES to Provide Satellite Capacity for U.S. Army Network
In other military space communications news, Global satellite solutions provider SES Government Solutions (SES GS) announced it has been awarded a contract to provide satellite capacity to support the Army Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T). SES GS was awarded the five-year contract through Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) as a subcontractor to small business company AIS Engineering, Inc. (AIS).

The innovative solution designed by the AIS and SES GS team is supported entirely by SES satellites. SES satellite capacity will provide support for U.S. Army research and development activities as well for testing new applications for mobile missions.

With more than three decades of experience serving the U.S. Government, SES GS has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. Army and has been supporting the WIN-T program for six years.