March 30, 2023 Cubic Awarded U.S. Air Force Contract for HERMes System

Increasing the range of operating frequencies enables code and algorithm optimization for the U.S. Air Force high-capacity backbone.

Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions (CMPS) was recently awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract from the U.S. Air Force Research & Development (R&D) program for Halo-Enabled Resilient Mesh (HERMes) software and a hardware prototype. The project is designed to advance the technological capabilities of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) High-Capacity Backbone (HCB).

The USAF contract is to investigate, design, develop, test and demonstrate the capabilities of the HERMes system. It also directs Cubic to expand the HCB communication system’s technical capabilities, such as developing the hardware used for the solution. Such expansion increases the range of operating frequencies, enables code and algorithm optimization, and will be backed by research into alternative capabilities to augment both the type and number of operational platforms.

“Cubic is committed to ensuring aerial networks produce a connectivity and user experience in the battlefield that mirrors what our warfighters experience in their everyday lives: high throughput, high availability and data when they need it,” said CMPS President Paul Shew.

Under development since 2008, Halo facilitates a high bandwidth, resilient, ad hoc multi-link mesh network using novel digital beamforming techniques. Cubic’s HERMes research and development effort aims to enhance and mature the Halo capability.

“We’re excited to complement ongoing efforts to transition Halo to the warfighter with parallel efforts like this new Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) project to innovate and make Halo even better,” said Scott Rosebush, vice president and general manager of Cubic’s Secure Communications business.

The contract announcement follows Cubic’s successful demonstration of an HCB-enabled gateway system solution in an air/ground configuration in 2022. The solution provides foundational connectivity and processing capabilities that enable Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and ensure delivery of the right data to the right place at the right time.

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