Viasat has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RigNet, a provider of ultra-secure, intelligent networking solutions and specialized applications. Viasat will purchase the company in an all-stock transaction worth approximately $222 million. “With the acquisition of RigNet, we are accelerating the diversification of our connectivity portfolio and establishing a global foundation for expansion of our remote enterprise service offerings,” said Rick Baldridge, Viasat's president and CEO. 

A new study from Viasat and the Government Business Council has found that agencies see limited funding, cultural complacency and lack of interoperability with legacy infrastructure as among the contributors to deficiencies in defense communications.

A Viasat-made terminal now accommodates cryptography-protected Link 16 communications in support of operations across ground, aerial and maritime domains. The KOR-24A small tactical terminal has been fitted with Link 16 cryptographic modernization capability that facilitates secure access to important information, Viasat said Thursday.

ViaSat has secured a potential $50.8M indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to help the Air Force Research Laboratory build and demonstrate prototype space systems.

The U.K. subsidiaries of Viasat and CDW has been awarded a two-year technical innovation contract for Command, Control and Communication support for Program LELANTOS, a wireless military network experimentation initiative by NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in Gloucester, England.

Viasat has partnered with AeroVironment to enable flying small UAS platforms to deploy a robust, on-demand, highly-secure communications network under a contract awarded under the U.S. Army Reconfigurable Communications for Small Unmanned Systems (RCSUS) initiative, Viasat reported on Thursday. Viasat will work with AeroVironment to develop and demonstrate advanced, encrypted communications for AeroVironment's portable, hand-launched Puma AE tactical UAS. 

Viasat has unveiled a new configuration for its handheld Link 16 radio product designed to help military users communicate during ground or air missions. The National Security Agency cleared the updated AN/PRC-161 Battlefield Awareness and Targeting System – Dismounted radio technology to support communications of U.S. general purpose forces, coalition troops and members of the “five eyes” international consortium, the company said Wednesday.

Viasat has presented a satellite communications networking technology during a recent virtual event that was hosted by the U.S. Air Force's AFWERX outfit and featured presentations from 30 industry teams.

Viasat has secured a four-year, $75.4M contract modification to update multifunctional information distribution system terminals for three U.S. military branches and foreign military sales customers.

Viasat has delivered the 200th unit of a compact multi-network communications tool designed to transmit real-time tactical situational awareness data and secure voice messages with Link 16 systems.

Viasat has received a five-year contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with handheld radios designed to accommodate Link 16 communications, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

Viasat has launched a modification kit that will help third-party satellite terminal providers access and align with a variety of government-used architectures.

Blue Canyon Technologies will support Viasat’s effort to test a low-Earth orbit spacecraft designed to access the Link 16 military data link, which is used to transmit data between military vessels.

AFWERX, a U.S. Air Force innovation program, has selected Viasat to exhibit a multi-network satellite communications concept at a technology event in Las Vegas.

The Army Forces Strategic Command has cleared Viasat's software-based modem technology for U.S. military use on a satellite network built to support communications across land, air and sea domains.