The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to invest more than
£45m in upgrading the RAF's
battlefield information system.
The contract for the latest upgrade to the
Falcon communications system has been awarded to BAE Systems,
which designed and built the original system to be fully compatible
with other Nato systems.
The upgrade, to be known as 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. The system will be supplied in vehicle mounted containers,
dismounted containers, and palletised systems.
Martin Sheppard, the MoD's theatre and formation communications
systems leader, said, "Falcoln Increment C will give a significant
boost to the RAF's ability to deploy on operations."
BAE Systems was awarded the Falcon Increment A contract worth
£200m in March 2006, to provide the British Army with an
information infrastructure system, which is also due to enter
service in 2010.