NASHVILLE, TN -- Honeywell's JetWave X satellite communication system has been selected to upgrade the Army's Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES), the company announced this morning, ahead of the Army Aviation Association of America's conference here.
ARES is an Army demonstrator aircraft owned and operated by L3Harris, which features a Bombardier 6000/6500 business jet. It is one of the demonstrator aircraft the Army’s ISR task force has used in recent years to help inform future multidomain sensing requirements.
JetWave X is meant to give soldiers “improved connectivity around the globe,” and will allow the Army to transmit “mission-critical information at higher data rates than currently available,” according to the company. The system is meant to provide greater network flexibility by having the capability to connect to any Viasat Ka-band satellite and has “open architecture” that “ensures compatibility with future Ka-band networks.”
Matt Milas, the president for defense and space of Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, said in a statement Wednesday that “today’s pilots need access to real-time data with uninterrupted connectivity to make mission-critical decisions.”
“Honeywell is proud to provide ARES with JetWave X, the only multinetwork satellite communications system for government aviation that seamlessly connects to the Inmarsat Global Xpress, ViaSat-3 and other Ka-band constellations,” he said.