HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A contract awarded June 11 to establish a secure fiber optic cable system will allow the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll to be connected to the continental U.S. through facilities on Guam. The Kwajalein Cable System (KCS) is a positive move by U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site (USAKA/RTS) to continue supporting national defense missions.
The Kwajalein Cable System is scheduled for completion in March 2010.
TKC Technology Solutions, LLC, of Fairfax, Va., was awarded a 10-year, $101 million contract. The U.S. Army is funding KCS through a Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Procurement Directorate contract.
The goal of the Kwajalein Cable System (KCS) is to provide the capability for meeting the Nation's evolving space and missile defense Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) requirements by transitioning to affordable, remote test range operations. The remoting concept is that range operations will be conducted in real time at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT) Headquarters on Redstone Arsenal, Ala., vice from USAKA/RTS, Republic of the Marshall Islands, as is currently done.
SMDC/ARSTRAT is committed to maintaining USAKA/RTS as a critical test range capability for the DOD while reducing the operating costs of this remote location. Currently all communications into USAKA/RTS are satellite based, resulting in bandwidth limitations and latency issues. The submarine fiber optic cable system connecting Kwajalein to Guam will enable USAKA/RTS to have relatively limitless high-speed, low-latency bandwidth for meeting its growing mission needs.
For more information contact John Cummings, SMDC/ARSTRAT Public Affairs, 256-955-1641 (john.cummings@smdc.army.mil).
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