Comtech Xicom Technology, Inc., a subsidiary of Comtech Telecommunications Corp and a major player in high power amplifier products for satellite communication (SATCOM), reportedly has received orders totaling $1.8 million for ruggedized, high-power, solid-state power amplifiers (SSPA's) that will be incorporated into transportable fly-away satellite terminals used by U.S. soldiers stationed overseas in remote areas.

In a release, company officials said these terminals, designed for outdoor use in harsh environmental conditions, transmit in the Ku-band frequency, which offers a broad array of available satellite transponders around the globe.

The terminals, officials said, can be packed into two transit cases making them ideal for transportable applications.

"Comtech Xicom (News - Alert) Technology has enjoyed a long history of technology leadership in high-power traveling wave tube amplifiers for satellite communications. This order is another demonstration of our ability to design light weight, efficient SSPA's that meet stringent customer requirements," said Fred Kornberg, president and chief executive officer of Comtech Telecommunications (News - Alert) Corp., in the release.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. designs, develops, produces and markets products, systems and services for advanced communications solutions.

The company believes many of its solutions play a vital role in providing or enhancing communication capabilities when terrestrial communications infrastructure is unavailable, inefficient or too expensive.

Recently Comtech Xicom Technology, Inc., had announced new lightweight, high power, antenna-mount, traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) that expand the capabilities of broadcast and teleport operators. The new 500- Watt TWTA's operate in Ka-band uplink frequencies.

With rapid growth in high definition and multichannel broadcasting, utilization of Ka-band spectrum is increasing worldwide. Xicom announced four new 500W TWTAs to address these needs.

The XTD-500Ka and XTD-500Ka6 allow the amplifier to be driven up to its saturated output power level while the XTD-500KaL and XTD-500Ka5 are limited to operation up to the linear power level. This is done to optimize the overall efficiency of the TWT and results in high linear power at a more economical price.

Comtech Xicom’s new outdoor TWTAs enable satellite operators to mount the HPA at the antenna, eliminating the high losses of long waveguide runs at Ka-band and reducing shelter requirements while maintaining high reliability.