Pentagon Hires GATR Technologies Inc. to Make More Inflatable Antennas

The Pentagon has given an Alabama company a $522 million contract for inflatable field antennas. The new contract is an extension of an earlier contract making a total value of more than $960 million.

GATR Technologies Inc. of Huntsville first won the contract in 2013. The company said then that this would move the antenna into wider use beyond the special operations units that adopted them first.

The antenna look like giant beach balls with tie-downs to point them in the right direction. The antenna is actually reflective fabric inside.

The contract was announced Friday in the Pentagon’s daily contract report.