Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $1.94 billion contract to deliver two more Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites for the US Air Force. These satellites AEHF 5 and AEHF 6 are designed to provide protected military satellite communications for the US armed forces. The contract contains elements of evolution of government contracts from cost-plus to fixed-price contracts.
To date two AEHF satellites, AEHF 1 and AEHF 2, have been built launched into orbit. Two more, AEHF 3 and 4, are due for launch in September 2013 and 2017 respectdively. The fifth and sixth satellites noted will be assembled at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, California, facility.