The Comcept broadband communication system will be extended to French Navy vessels under a contract awarded to Airbus Defence and Space and Actia Telecom by the DGA, it was announced on 7 March.
The Comcept system was brought into service with the French armed forces in 2015. The 'all IP’ technology broadband satellite communication network aims to respond to the increase in data exchanges between military equipment and information systems, adding on to the Syracuse satellite system via new satellite transmission capacities in the Ka band, especially those of the Franco-Italian military satellite Athena-Fidus, or via capacities in the Ku and C bands.
Under this contract, Airbus Defence and Space and Actia Telecom will equip 17 naval vessels with new navalised satcom terminals. Teleports will also be installed in mainland France and overseas territories to ensure connection to the Ministry of Defence’s terrestrial networks.
The installation of Comcept on board vessels will allow all satellite broadband needs to be catered for within a global, unified system shared by the army, air force, and navy.
The core of the Comcept network comprises two redundant mission centres to manage the network and teleports that ensure the transfer of data between the satellite and the terrestrial networks of the Ministry of Defence. The armed forces are equipped with fixed and deployable stations of different sizes (ranging from 70cm and transportable in a case, up to 2.4m in a shelter), with more than 200 stations already delivered.
Airbus Defence and Space is responsible for system engineering and the supply of Comcept network core equipment as well as through-life support services. Actia Telecom conducts the engineering, integration and through-life support services for user ground stations.
The airborne three-domain, the two ground-based and the ¼ ATR OpenVPX-based cross-domain systems were engineered to provide real-time security across multi-domain operations.
DARPA’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) programme was set up to develop an autonomous tactical network and enable critical data flow in contested environments.
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Defence-secure mixed reality headsets can save hours, or even weeks, of travel time to fix defunct equipment or get subject experts effectively “on-site” where they are needed.
The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and Drone Restricted Access Using Known Electromagnetic Warfare (DRAKE) counter-UAS (CUAS) systems are mounted and dismounted RF jammers.
Adarga’s Vantage information analysis tool is in service with the UK MoD and individual UK forces. It builds on the company’s Knowledge Platform which processes, organises and analyses open source material, as well as information held by the user’s military, security and intelligence services.
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