Cubic Corp. said its GATR unit provided its unique and highly portable satellite dishes — as well as people to operate them — to several islands in the Caribbean in August and September following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
Cubic (NYSE: CUB) mainly serves military customers with its satellite dish business. In this case, it worked with disaster relief customers.
GATR antennas are giant canvas balls which collapse into small cases for transport. When inflated, the advanced materials pop into a perfect parabolic shape needed to transmit signals to a satellite.
Cubic said it deployed GATR dishes to St. John and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Antigua, Barbuda and St. Martin. In St. John, the GATR antenna provided communications, networking and high-bandwidth internet connectivity for a clinic, hospital and pharmacy, all to make sure patients got refills of their medications.
“Using our GATR antennas, we are able to help individuals stay connected to family and friends as well as assist the daily operations of medical personnel and first responders,” Mike Twyman, president of Cubic Mission Solutions, said in a prepared statement.
GATR also provided satellite dishes for hurricane relief in Houston.
Cubic closed its $232.5 million acquisition of GATR in early 2016. Alabama-based GATR has been offering disaster relief to Gulf Coast communities since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Cubic is a defense contractor with a sizable business serving mass-transit agencies.
