Distributed Aperture Resilient Terminal System (DARTS)

The U.S. Army is seeking industry input via a white‑paper response to develop a prototype (TRL 7) of a Distributed Aperture Resilient Terminal System (DARTS) that uses multiple smaller SATCOM antennas to replace large single‑aperture terminals. The effort focuses on system architecture, component selection, cost estimates, and performance metrics for RF, digital conversion, signal processing, and control/monitoring. Respondents must outline proposed solutions, trade‑offs, TRL levels, and provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost for a prototype, including bill of materials, installation, and maintenance estimates. The response deadline is 17:00 EST on 30 September 2026. • Develop a TRL 7 prototype using commercially available components. • Address X‑band and military Ka‑band RF requirements; recommend WGS‑certified terminals. • Describe digital IF transport, coherent combining, and control/monitoring software. • Provide ROM cost estimate (BOM, installation, maintenance) with assumptions. • Submit a ≤15‑page white paper (Word or PDF) to the listed Army email addresses.