PARADIGM SECURE COMMUNICATIONS

Paradigm Secure Communications was selected by the UK MOD as preferred bidder for Skynet 5 at the end of February this year. The Paradigm team will be delivering secure global military satellite communications (milsatcoms) to the UK armed forces, in the form of a service provision contract for the first time. Worth around £2 billion over two decades, this service will be the largest Private Finance Initiative (PFI) of its kind.

The Paradigm team consists of industry leaders within the communications field including Europe's largest space company Astrium, Logica, General Dynamics Decision Systems (formerly Motorola IISG), Cogent DSN, Serco, Cable & Wireless and SEA; with support from Stratos for Inmarsat services.

With the diverse range of military operations and the information required in today's digital battlespace, milsatcoms are playing an increasingly important role in providing and sharing instantaneous voice, video and data between ground, sea and air platforms.

The Skynet 5 contract calls for Paradigm to deliver milsatcoms services initially through the transfer of ownership and operation of the existing Skynet 4 infrastructure in early 2003 and then by incorporating new Skynet 5 satellites and new and upgraded ground segment from the middle of this decade.

A key player in the Paradigm team, Astrium is responsible for the integrated Skynet 5 system. As supplier of the existing UK and NATO Skynet 4 satellites, Astrium was undoubtedly well placed to continue supporting the MOD's milsatcoms requirements of the future. The Skynet 5 solution will be based on the highly developed Eurostar 3000 satellite bus used for over 20 communications satellites already delivered to customers worldwide and on Astrium's expertise in military communications spacecraft payloads and ground terminals.

By choosing this highly flexible and cost effective service provision solution, the MOD will retain guaranteed, secure milsatcoms whenever and wherever required, eliminating the risks of managing the space system and benefiting from evolving technologies and increasing capacity.

Supported by the UK Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) and within a mutually beneficial framework with the MOD, Paradigm will offer the same levels of service and security to other governments and organisations such as NATO. The advantage of the Paradigm offering is that more countries and organisations will now be able to acquire these capabilities, in shorter timescales and at significantly reduced costs, as they will only pay in proportion to the capacity required.

The Paradigm team has already demonstrated its ability to deliver services to military customers through its Project WELCOME welfare communications service contract with the UK MOD, which has been proven around the world including the Balkans, Oman, Afghanistan and Royal Navy ships.

Following the announcment, Hilary Mathews, Managing Director Paradigm Secure Communications said "This is both a landmark for Paradigm and the right decision for UK industry. We are delighted by the MOD's selection which is a testament to both the quality and technical excellence of the Paradigm bid and the outstanding work carried out by everyone in the Paradigm team. We will now ensure that everything is in place for contract signature later this year."

Paradigm Secure Communications will be a joint venture between BAE SYSTEMS and EADS, European Aeronautic Defence and Space company, two of the world leaders in the aerospace industry.

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