Air Force awards optical deal

Lucent will get $12.5 million to build a prototype system for optical data communications.

The Air Force announced this week the award of a $12.5 million contract to Lucent Technologies Inc. to build an architecture and prototype system that sends and receives data packets using optical technologies.

The Air Force Research Laboratory, in Rome, N.Y., wants Lucent, based in Whippany, N.J., to demonstrate packet-routing architectures for the optical domain and optical technologies for wavelength switching, optical buffering, subnanosecond switching and multichannel regeneration, according to a Jan. 26 statement from the Defense Department.

The Air Force has given Lucent $32,221 of the $12.5 million contract. The service will pay more money as it awards program task orders, the DOD statement said.

The Air Force Research Laboratory issued the contract in March. Lucent will complete the work by January 2008.

NEXT STORY: Air Force to issue Netcents RFP