Thales wins contract to upgrade NATO protected SATCOM capability

25 January 2013 Thales

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 25th January 2013 – Thales has been awarded a contract by the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency  to upgrade the protected SATCOM capability of NATO in order to increase operational performance and reduce operating costs.

Thanks to the new capability upgrade contract, the NATO-EMS will be able to expand its performance to high rate data links while dramatically improving the spectral efficiency of the transmission links, thus optimizing the bandwidth occupancy at satellite level.

The NATO Electronic Protective Measures (EPM) Modem System – or NATO-EMS (EPM Modem System) – which provides robust anti-jam, low probability of exploitation and low probability of intercept SATCOM transmission capability was contracted to Thales in 2006 and completed in 2008. The system allows NATO to deploy highly protected SATCOM links between anchor stations and Transportable Satellite Ground Terminals (TSGT).

The NATO-EMS is based on Modem 21e, the Thales EPM transmission system. The Modem 21e defines a complete military solution designed to satisfy all Armed Forces applications (tri-service: land / sea / air) using a common transmission core which is fully adapted to the wide range of protected SATCOM operations. The Modem 21e incorporates the best of SATCOM technology to respond to all constraints of integration in military platforms combining advanced protection against jamming, interference and fading, dynamic resource allocation and full compatibility with SATCOM On-The-Move (SOTM) applications.

Thales and secure satellite communications (MILSATCOM)

Thales is a leading global supplier of secure end to end SATCOM solutions, for the Army, Air Force and Navy, based on civilian and military satellites.

• Thales is a major participant in French Military Satellite Communications programmes (SYRACUSE 1-3) and is the prime contractor for the ground segment and network SYRACUSE III. It is also responsible for the convergence of ASTRIDE/SYRACUSE theatre networks.

• Thales is the prime contractor for the French armed forces’ Venus On The Move VAB light armoured vehicles.

• As part of Thales’s global SATCOM offering, which includes various types of military terminals for land, sea and air operations, Modem 21e is a key transmission system which strongly secures deployed SATCOM solutions against jamming. Available in various waveforms, the Modem 21e provides optimal performances in many different environments and is compliant with NATO standards. It has been deployed in France and in NATO member countries.