Boeing completed software qualification testing and systems integration testing for the Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals it is developing for the Air Force, announced the company. It also integrated the terminals with the mission control system for Advanced Extremely High Frequency and Milstar military communications satellites, states the company’s Jan. 29 release. “With these significant achievements, Boeing has demonstrated via formal software qualification testing and informal system-level integration testing that the Boeing design meets FAB-T’s functional and performance requirements,” said Paul Geery, the company’s FAB-T program manager. He added, “We’ve also demonstrated AEHF spacecraft control, which is critical to FAB-T’s mission. Our effort is the only industry offering that has demonstrated this capability.” Raytheon is also maturing a FAB-T design for the Air Force as a potential alternate supplier under a contract awarded last September. AEHF and Milstar satellites will relay FAB-T communications once these terminals, both ground-based and airborne, are operational. FAB-T hardware will support the command and control of US nuclear forces. (See also Boeing Completes FAB-T Design Review.)
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff touted his highly unusual background for the job as an asset and reaffirmed his commitment to stay apolitical during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 1.