Raytheon wins $663M Army, Marines wireless comms contract

Raytheon has won a 10-year, $663 million contract to help the Army build a new system for beyond-line-of-sight communications across wireless data networks also used by the Marine Corps.

The Army received one other bid for the brand new Troposcatter Transmission System contract that also covers engineering and related technical services, the Defense Department said in its Monday awards digest.

Troposcatter is a method used to communicate signals at distances around 200 miles and potentially further depending on terrain and climate. This is achieved by sending the signals in a narrow beam aimed at just above the horizon in the direction of the receiver station.

Signals pass through the troposphere -- the lowest level of the Earth’s atmosphere -- and scatter as they head back toward the ground.

Solicitation documents indicate low-rate production quantities are 18 systems for the Army and 12 units for the Marine Corps. Full-rate production will be 132 total systems for both branches.

Work will take place through April 2029.