BAE Systems, CHRISTCHURCH, UK: BAE Systems has been awarded a £45m-plus contract by the UK Ministry of Defence to upgrade the RAF’s battlefield information system.
FALCON Increment C will provide broadband-like voice, data and video communications for the RAF worldwide. It will also link to MOD systems such as Skynet 5 satellites. The system, to be delivered in 2010, offers greatly improved data throughput, security, and mobility compared with current systems.
Martin Sheppard, the UK MOD’s theatre and formation communications systems IPT leader said: “FALCON Increment C will give a significant boost to the RAF's ability to deploy on operations.
“Earlier systems were designed in an era when voice was predominant but today’s operating environment demands systems capable of handling large amounts of data. FALCON brings internet protocol technology from the civil telecommunications sector to the military, where it must meet security constraints, operate in harsh physical environments and withstand a range of threats.”
FALCON will be supplied in three installation types giving the RAF operational flexibility. These will be vehicle mounted containers, dismounted containers and palletised systems. The vehicle is capable of carrying three personnel and all the variants can be airlifted.
BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies (Insyte), land programmes director Nigel Philpott said: “FALCON is a low-risk solution based on proven technologies and capitalises on the existing UK MoD investment in Increment A. Extending FALCON will meet the Royal Air Force’s high bandwidth information systems requirements.”
BAE Systems was awarded the FALCON Increment A contract in March 2006, to provide the British Army with an information infrastructure system, valued in excess of £200m, which is due to enter service in 2010.
BAE Systems technology partners include SELEX Communications, Thales, Cisco, Dytecna, Flagship and L3 ASA.
BAE Systems is the premier global defence and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With 96,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded £15 billion (US $27 billion) in 2006 on a pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings Inc for the whole of 2006.
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