Viasat Awarded Contract to Upgrade the UK Ministry of Defence's Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications Network Control Stations
FARNBOROUGH, U.K., Feb. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, announced today that Airbus has awarded Viasat's UK entity an $8.5 million (GBP 6.7m) contract to upgrade the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite communications (SATCOM) Network Control Stations (NCS), delivering the UHF Skynet capability to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). This upgrade will leverage Viasat's Visual Integrated Satellite communications Information, Operation and Networking (VISION) software platform, enabling the MOD to comply with the latest Integrated Waveform (IW) requirements, known as IW Phase 2.
Airbus contracted this upgrade with Viasat to further enhance the UK Armed Forces' mission situational awareness and operational insights; provide greater communications interoperability and scalability to more users on the battlefield; and ensure increased flexibility across legacy and next-generation NCS platforms. Airbus has been using Viasat's UHF SATCOM technology since 2012, within the Skynet satellite network, which currently benefits UK MOD and coalition forces, including NATO and Five Eye (FVEY) nations.
"The UHF upgrade, incorporating our VISION software, is key to providing increased mission effectiveness by rapidly expanding the Skynet capability to UK MOD and allied forces," said Steve Beeching, managing director, Viasat UK. "With VISION, the network operators will gain more assured, reliable, real-time communications capabilities to reconfigure UHF satellite networks to meet new tactical profiles—as battlefield and warfighter requirements dynamically expand and contract."
The use of VISION in the IW Phase 2 upgrade, will provide network operators more control of the UHF network, and warfighters with a more resilient communications service. The VISION platform supports IW Phase 2 pre-planned demand-assigned and ad-hoc service types, which will allow the UK Armed Forces to considerably increase its channel efficiency to meet end-user requirements without additional investment in the UHF space segment. This optimization is expected to significantly increase the number of users on the network, giving more operational personnel access to reliable, high-quality, resilient voice and data communications. It will also enable future forward-deployable capabilities and future possibility for Demand-Assigned Multiple-Access (DAMA) expansion, which is expected to bring the IW service to all satellites in the current and planned UK portfolio.
Beeching continued, "This is an important contract for Viasat UK, as it is part of our continued growth and prosperity plan in the UK. Viasat's proven VISION technology platform will now be leveraged to support IW Phase 2, which will enable our troops in the UK to communicate more efficiently and cost-effectively across the globe."
About Viasat
Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. For more than 30 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact people's lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea. To learn more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com, go to Viasat's Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on social media at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward looking statements include statements about Viasat's VISION software platform, including its benefits and capabilities; our ability to enable the MOD to comply with IW requirements; benefits and capabilities of the UHF upgrade; and increased flexibility across legacy and next-generation NCS platforms. Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include: product defects, manufacturing issues or delays, contractual problems, regulatory issues, technologies that do not perform according to expectations; and increased competition and other factors affecting the government and defense sectors generally. In addition, please refer to the risk factors contained in Viasat's SEC filings available at www.sec.gov, including Viasat's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Viasat undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.
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