Xacta to install solar power for LAN nodes

Xacta Corp. will install solar power systems to support wireless network nodes for Air Force maintenance activities in southwest Asia under a $3.3 million contract. The United States Central Command Air Forces selected Xacta through its parent company, Telos Corp.

The project is part of an effort to add wireless local-area network nodes to aircraft maintenance ramps and hangars. The solar energy component makes such network nodes possible in locations where electrical power is scarce or nonexistent.

Telos has already installed the actual radio units. Now they need power.

"Working in theater always involves obstacles, and addressing those challenges requires creativity," said Brendan Malloy, senior vice president of secure networks at Xacta. "In this case, those challenges include remote locations and extremely harsh weather conditions."

Some of the sites where Xacta will work have temperatures reaching more than 120 degrees Farenheit, and heavy clouds of blowing dust. The radio units require weather-sealed, air-conditioned enclosures, increasing the power requirements.

Telos, based in Ashburn, Va., ranks No. 76 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.