Distributed Aperture Resilient Terminal System (DARTS)
The Army is issuing a Request for Information for a Distributed Aperture Resilient Terminal System (DARTS), seeking input from industry on developing a Technology Readiness Level 7 prototype using commercially available components. The system aims to replace large single-aperture SATCOM antennas with a rapidly deployable array of smaller antennas that can replicate large-antenna performance, with emphasis on resiliency, redundancy, and cost asymmetry. Required operational frequencies are X-band and Military Ka-band, with WGS certified terminals recommended and digital IF/RF technologies conforming to the DIFI standard. The government requests white papers describing proposed system architecture, components, capabilities, system costs, and a rough order of magnitude for building and demonstrating the prototype.