7/31/2007 - NEW YORK, NY -- L-3 Communications announced today the successful flight test of a 1 lb., Common Data Link (CDL) compliant, software-programmable terminal on a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The small, fully ruggedized system, including a digital modem, RF electronics and amplifiers, transmitted full motion video at 45 Mbps and 10.71 Mbps to three different CDL ground stations. The transceiver, flown in Salt Lake City, Utah and witnessed by representatives from the U.S. Air Force, Army and Marine Corps, makes no interoperability compromises to achieve its revolutionary small size.

To date, L-3 has provided over 500 CDL terminals to a variety of manned and unmanned platforms, providing armed forces worldwide with reliable, high capacity communications.

"The intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability enabled by Common Data Link standard equipment saves lives," said Susan Opp, President and General Manager of L-3 Communication Systems-West (L-3 CS-West). "This latest cost and size reduction engineered by L-3 CS-West will inject CDL onto more platforms, extending critical ISR capabilities to a broader segment of our armed forces."

Additional Ground tests witnessed by Government representatives at the Surface/Aviation Interoperability Laboratory (SAIL), Patuxent River Naval Air Station, showed the terminal interoperates with two different Naval CDL surface terminals manufactured by different vendors.

L-3 CS-West, located in Salt Lake City, UT, is the preeminent supplier of wideband data links and mobile surface and airborne satellite terminals for military applications in the world. L-3 CS-West has over 40 years of experience in providing robust, mobile microwave, satellite terminals and wideband data links for airborne platforms, including manned and unmanned platforms, operating in a variety of environments.

Source: L-3 Communications Press Release