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24 Jul 15. Airbus Defence and Space has announced that the planned 67,000km move of the Skynet 5A satellite over the Asia Pacific region is on track. The move from 6° East to 94.8° East will expand Airbus Defence and Space’s capability to provide protected and secure military satcom services to allied governments in the Asia-Pacific region. The satellite will be on station at its new location in the autumn this year.
Airbus Defence and Space announced the planned move of Skynet 5A military communications satellite at the Satellite 2015 Conference in March 2015. The relocation will extend the Skynet constellation coverage and services from 178 West to 163 East, including the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific region. This will provide near-global military X-band and UHF coverage, expanding core service reach for the UK military and augment coalition capabilities in the region.
Airbus Defence and Space owns and operates the hardened Skynet X-band satellite constellation of 8 satellites and the ground network to provide all Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications to the UK Ministry of Defence. The contract also allows other NATO and allied governments such as members of the five-eyes community (besides UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) to use the Skynet system to augment their existing services. Airbus Defence and Space also leases the
X-band hosted payload on Telesat’s Anik G1 satellite which covers the Americas and parts of the Pacific including Hawaii and Easter Island.
“The Skynet 5 constellation consists of the world’s most powerful, nuclear hardened and protected, military X-band and UHF satellites,” said Colin Paynter, Head of Airbus Defence and Space UK. “With the move of Skynet 5A, we will expand the availability of our premium secure MILSATCOM services to allied nations in the region who need high grade resilient and secure communications services to complement their existing systems.”
23 Jul 15. Top executives of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) briefed media on a critical enabling framework for fifth-generation C4ISR, drawing upon the company’s extensive range of integrated, end-to-end, cross-domain C4ISR capabilities.
Gloria Flach, president, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, and Kathy Warden, president, Northrop Grumman Information Systems, both addressed the group assembled at the company’s Center for Innovative Solutions (CIS). Other executives guided guests through an immersive mission scenario followed by interactive demonstrations of mission enablers that could be used to address the continuously evolving threats the nation’s warfighters encounter in the battlespace.
The integrated framework discussion highlighted opportunities to improve nearly every aspect of C4ISR. Northrop Grumman communications networks are a key enabler that seamlessly connect otherwise incompatible data links and voice waveforms. The company cited open integration as a way to more efficiently cross domains, from undersea to outer space and cyberspace. The company adds experience in the full range of sensor technologies, including radar, electronic warfare, infrared and visible spectra.
“Everything we do for C4ISR is about increasing agile responsiveness,” said Flach. “By fully integrating every facet – from sophisticated platforms and sensors to cutting-edge processing and communications – we can deliver the asymmetrical advantage that is going to make the difference in tomorrow’s battlespace.”
“Our solutions offer speed of information, speed of decision and speed of action, all with open-architecture, vendor-agnostic systems,” said Warden. “Cyber, and specifically cyber resilience, is both critical and fully integrated into everything we do.”
Programs and capabilities on display included the Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR); Scalable Agile Beam