Leonardo DRS, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRS) has been awarded a $39.6 million contract by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for the production and delivery of Joint Tactical Terminal Transceiver (JTT-X) units, according to a company statement.

The firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract covers non-recurring engineering, production, aircraft integration, qualification, and production support for the EA-18G Growler aircraft.

The award supports the Navy's Global Lightning initiative, which focuses on resilient communications and situational awareness for naval aviation operating in contested environments.

JTT-X is described as an upgrade to the Navy's primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency layered communications architecture. The system is designed to operate across government and commercial network pathways, including proliferated Low Earth Orbit satellite communications architectures.

The terminal is built using a modular open systems approach with 3U VPX expansion slots for future capability upgrades. It incorporates Leonardo DRS's Transceiver Crypto Module cards, which provide both embedded crypto and UHF secure tactical communications capability developed to NSA SERD 2.0 High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryption standards.

"This award is an important milestone for our team and reflects the Navy's continued confidence in Leonardo DRS to deliver secure, resilient communications for Naval Aviation," said Larry Ezell, senior vice president and general manager of Leonardo DRS Airborne and Intelligence Systems.