PARIS — British aerospace and defense contractor Cobham PLC announced Nov. 3 two six-year contracts valued at up to $72.7 million to provide satellite communications ground antennas to the U.S. Navy and Thales Communications Inc.
The awards were made through Cobham Antenna Systems’ newly acquired Trivec Avant business, a Huntington Beach, Calif.-based antenna manufacturer Cobham bought for $126 million in a deal that closed Oct. 31.
Cobham said under the Navy contract, valued at $60.7 million, the company will be extending an existing contract for UHF-bandwidth systems as part of the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite constellation, whose satellites are under construction by Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif. The Cobham contract is with the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.
The award with Thales Communications is also over six years and is valued at up to $2 million per year, Cobham said. It calls for the shipment of different satellite communications antennas for Thales’ Joint Tactical Radio System Enhanced Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio, being integrated into hand-held radios for the U.S. Army.
Cobham agreed in mid-September to acquire Trivec Avant, a 30-year-old company specializing in ultrahigh frequency satellite antennas for land, sea and airborne applications. The antenna maker reported a $22.4 million operating profit and gross assets of $11.7 million, excluding debt and cash.
With the deal closed, Trivec Avant becomes part of Cobham Antenna Systems, a Marlow, U.K.-based strategic business unit that includes Concord, Calif.-based Sea Tel. That Cobham acquisition is developing Global Xpress maritime satellite terminals for Inmarsat of London under a $40 million deal announced in March.
