Northrop Hands Lockheed 4th Payload for AEHF Satellite

Northrop Grumman has delivered the fourth protected military communications payload for the U.S. Air Force‘s Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite to prime contractor Lockheed Martin ahead of its integration with the AEHF payload module.

Northrop said Monday it will perform payload integration while Lockheed works on satellite bus unit integration as part of a hybrid satellite integration and test approach.

The industry team collaborated with the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to develop the hybrid approach, Northrop said.

The payload works to provide anti-jamming, anti-detection, rapid recovery and other functions.

After integration, the fourth AEHF satellite is scheduled to launch in 2017 to provide additional capacity for tactical military communications and communication with the National Command Authority.