Mayflower Communications Company, Inc., Awarded a $10.4 Million Contract by U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center
Burlington, MA – 06 February 2004 – Mayflower Communications Company, Inc. a technology leader in GPS and Communication Data Link technologies, headquartered in Burlington, MA has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract totaling $10.4 million from the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Dahlgren, VA. The Navy DoD SBIR Program is a highly competitive program that funds advanced R&D projects geared towards meeting DoD objectives at small technology companies, which also have the potential for commercialization in the private sector and/or military markets. The DoD SBIR program funded projects totaling $834 million in FY 2003.
The funding will be used by Mayflower to develop the necessary modules to support the successful deployment of the U.S. Navy Guidance Integrated Fuze (GIF) system sponsored by the Office of Secretary of Defense. GIF employs a novel systems approach that integrates GPS-based, guidance, navigation and control functions (GN&C) into a NATO standard fuze envelope. GIF is a “smart fuze” that is designed to be a one-for-one replacement to the NATO Standard Fuze presently used by the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy and many NATO countries. Prior to the GIF initiative, the packaging of these elements represented a serious challenge and was considerably beyond the state-of-the-art of SAASM (Selective Availability Anti Spoof Module) GPS receivers and GPS anti-jam systems. The GIF system addresses these needs and is projected to dramatically improve the accuracy of ballistic trajectory of the projectiles which will result in significant performance improvements including: minimal miss distance, reduced time to neutralize threats and minimized logistic and re-supply burdens. In other words, GIF will enable “Maneuver Warfare” and provide “First-Round Steel-Target” capability.
GIF Spiral II development requires significant miniaturization of next generation (M-code compatible) GPS receivers with robust anti-jam capability as well implementation of GPS SAASM (Selective Availability Anti-Spoof Module) function in software. Under this program initiative, Mayflower will develop the critical GPS modules for the next generation M-code compatible GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers and anti-jam systems for the Spiral II GIF program. Successful development of these GPS modules will drive the cost of precision navigation and guidance systems down to approximately $ 3,000 per round and reduce the number of required rounds per target by a factor of 30 to 60, with a similar reduction in time required to achieve this goal. According to Mr. Chad Finch, the Navy GIF Acquisition Program Manger, “the Spiral II GIF program will not be successful without a robust GPS anti-jam capability sufficiently miniaturized to fit the GIF envelope. A miniature M-code compatible Software SAASM GPS receiver system with robust anti-jam is essential. This development will greatly abate these crucial problems.”
Mayflower’s development of the miniaturized GPS SAASM module with robust anti-jam capability for the GIF program builds on its successful track record of developing and demonstrating its advanced GPS receivers, anti-jam and data link technology prototypes in a variety of Navy programs. According to Mr. John Fraysse, the Gun and Projectile Technology Director for Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) missions at NSWC, “This important initiative will demonstrate the superior GPS technology required for a successful GIF product. This will be accomplished by a true Government-Industry partnership between NSWC and innovative, small businesses such as Mayflower. The AJ concept and integrated GPS receiver technologies ‘raise the bar’ with respect to the present state-of-the-art for small body projectiles and missiles and has general application to low-cost airframes being developed in the Navy and Army Tech Base programs.”
Mayflower has supported the U.S. Navy’s goal of enhancing the accuracy of Navy Precision Guided Munitions for over a decade starting from its early work for the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) dealing with advanced GPS navigation and attitude receivers to more recent work for the Office of Naval Research (ONR), NAVAIR (Patuxent River and China Lake) and NAVSEA (NSWC, Dahlgren) in GPS anti-jam (A/J) electronics, and command data link for retargeting.” The U.S. Navy’s strong support and confidence in our technology and business is deeply gratifying. It is a testament to our strength in GPS. Our proven track record of successful R&D work for the Navy, as well as our ongoing R&D work for the US Army CECOM and AMCOM, has culminated in Mayflower being selected by the US Navy NAVSEA Command, Dahlgren Division for this important Navy GIF program initiative.” said Dr. Triveni Upadhyay, Founder and Chairman of Mayflower Communications Company. Mayflower’s M-code compatible GPS receiver and anti-jam modules, developed and delivered under this program, will be integrated into the Navy GIF Guidance Electronics Unit (GEU) and will be ready for use in other Navy and Army missile programs, such as the Extended Range Munitions (ERM), Hyper Velocity Projectiles (HVP) and Common Guidance Programs.
About Mayflower Communications Co.
Mayflower Communications, a privately held company, is a leader in advancing radio navigation and wireless communication technology with a strong focus on GPS receiver anti-jam technology, its integration with other sensors, such as an inertial navigation sensor and high data rate mobile wireless communications. Since the company’s inception in 1986, Mayflower has developed and patented advanced GPS anti-jam technologies and products, such as adaptive temporal filter (ATF), adaptive spatial filter (ASF) and combined adaptive spatial-temporal filter (ASTF) to mitigate both narrowband and wideband GPS jamming threats.
About Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC)
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), under Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), is among the largest research and development (R&D) centers in the United States. The NSWCDD mission is to provide research, development, test and evaluation, engineering, and fleet support for surface warfare systems, surface ship combat systems, ordnance, mines, amphibious warfare systems, mine countermeasures, special warfare systems, and strategic systems.