Toulouse. Airbus to provide satellite communications to the Belgian Armed Forces
Through Guillaume Laurent
Published on
Airbus announced on Tuesday 24 January 2023 that it has won from the Belgian Ministry of Defense a 15-year contract for the supply of tactical communications services by satellite. This contract, the amount of which has not been disclosed, will begin in 2024.
Via a commercial telecommunications satellite
According to the aeronautics and space giant, whose world headquarters are in Toulouse“the armed forces will use payload channels hosted by Airbus military UHF (ultra high frequency) communications, on board a commercial telecommunications satellite manufactured by Airbus”.
“With this new UHF payload, Airbus will be able to offer a new UHF communications service, scheduled to be launched in 2024, to armed forces, in particular those of European countries and NATO allies.”
“The UHF frequency band being a relatively orbital resource rare, this offer will make up for the lack of capacity in the world”, even advances the aircraft manufacturer. Airbus says it has “already signed several firm orders for this capability”, well before the planned launch of the satellite.
Piloted from Toulouse
The UHF payload will be operated from the Airbus Network Operations Center at Toulouse. Its 18 UHF channels allow up to 200 simultaneous communications over Europe, the Middle East, Africa, much of Asia, as well as the Atlantic Ocean (towards the east of Brazil) and the Indian Ocean (towards the west of Australia ).
“UHF military satcoms are used by armed forces to operations on land, at sea and in the air, explains Airbus, which defends its tools: “They have a high level of interoperability and are therefore very useful for multinational and coalition operations”.
“The UHF band is very flexible and offers a light, robust and highly secure means of communication. A wide range of terminals usable on land, at sea and in the air are available to meet the needs of different armed forces”.
The group claims “unique experience in the operation of military UHF satellite communications services. This new payload will enrich (its) portfolio throughout the lifetime of the satellite”. Airbus claims to be “the only private satcom operator (satellite communications, editor’s note) of the armed forces to cover all frequency bands and military and commercial applications”.
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