VSAT - Viasat and Airbus Deliver Secure Broadband SATCOM for Irish Defence Forces on C295 MSA Aircraft | Benzinga
Airbus integrated Viasat's multi-band airborne terminal on the C295 MSA aircraft to enable managed SATCOM service to Irish Air Corps
CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT), a global communications company, today announced that it has integrated a secure, flexible broadband Ku- and Ka-band airborne technology onto the Airbus C295 MSA aircraft for the Irish Air Corps (IAC), a division of the Irish Defence Forces focused on the Military Air Defence of Ireland airspace and supporting United Nations peacekeeping operations. Viasat and Airbus collaborated to integrate Viasat's flexible dual-band broadband terminal, the GAT-5530, on the C295 MSA aircraft to provide enhanced capability to this multi-purpose military airborne platform. Airbus completed delivery of two C295 MSA aircraft to the Irish Defence Forces earlier this year.
The Airbus C295 MSA, a highly reliable multirole surveillance aircraft, provides the Irish Air Corps with a new-generation tactical transport and ISR platform that is extremely versatile in the operations it can perform. With more than 280 C295 aircraft ordered worldwide, the platform's flexibility and tactical support capabilities offer Airbus' global customer base an enhanced multi-mission aircraft to meet modern mission requirements.
This integration of the Viasat GAT-5530 terminal will enable greater capability through secure, reliable satellite connectivity and enhance support for a range of command, control and communication (C3) mission needs – from tactical transport of troops and supplies to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). The GAT-5530 terminal supports the entire ITU Ku- and Ka-bands, which includes 3.5GHz of commercial and military Ka-band. This multi-faceted terminal offers greater operational flexibility for military customers as they seek increased resilience with multi-frequency (Ku/Mil-Ka/Commercial-Ka), multi-orbit (GEO, MEO, LEO, HEO), multi-network communications architectures.
"Viasat is thrilled to equip the C295 ...