Next Sunday, about 300,000 deployed U.S. troops who are nearest to civilization will be able to tune in to the American Forces Radio and Television Service to watch the NBC broadcast of the Super Bowl.

And thanks to modern technology, as many as 50,000 service members deployed to the most remote and rugged locations -think the mountains of Afghanistan, or a submerged submarine — also will be able to catch the game.

The remote-areas feed comes courtesy of the same Raytheon system that carries classified operational and intelligence data and, to some locations, distance-learning classes. Raytheon has partnered with the Air Force, which manages daily operations of the Global Broadcast Service, to carry the Super Bowl on its fast-growing third satellite channel that provides morale services, such as 24-hour access to CNN.

The game broadcast won't interfere with the transmission of vital live unmanned aerial vehicle imagery or any other intelligence data on the Global Broadcast Service.

"It's a multichannel broadcast," said Guy DuBois, vice president of operational technologies and solutions for Raytheon's intelligence and information systems directorate. "So we will use whatever channel is available without disturbing the operations mission."

Most troops will see the game via conventional hookups with the American Forces service. To get to more remote areas, ultra-high frequency signals are broadcast from three locations, including one in Hawai'i in Wahiawa. That signal, combined with the ones in Norfolk, Va., and Sigonella in Sicily, Italy, will blanket much of the world.

The signals are redirected by orbiting government or commercial satellites, based on guidance provided by in-theater satellite broadcast managers, who pass along command priorities and available beams and transponders back to Raytheon, which then programs that information into the broadcast system.

On the ground, units snag the signal with a "receive suite" and route it to nearby TV sets via a landline. But a service member in the most remote circumstances armed with the portable version of the suite with the antenna can pick up the signal on a laptop computer, straight from the satellite, DuBois said.

Raytheon and the Air Force have operated the Global Broadcast Service for the past 11 years, and have broadcast the Super Bowl since 2001. But, DuBois explained, "It was somewhat constrained by the older version of the system, and we had certain limitations."

In the past couple of years, the system has been upgraded and now provides more bandwidth as well as more satellites to redirect the broadcasts.

Last year's Super Bowl, for instance, could be seen aboard every Navy ship in the Pacific, DuBois said.