Viasat Provides NATO Upgrades to UHF Satellite Control Station and Offers Encryption Platform to Five-Eyes Partners
Carlsbad, California-based Viasat upgraded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) ultra high frequency (UHF) satellite communications (SATCOM) control stations to comply with the new integrated waveform baseline. The upgrade will provide NATO with improved interoperability, scalability and flexibility across legacy and next-generation platforms, according to the company.
The upgrade allows NATO to have 25-kHz legacy demand-assigned multiple-access and next-generation integrated waveform networks and services, enabled by Viasat’s visual integrated satellite communications information, operation and networking (VISION) software platform. The VISION platform improves reliability compared to previous waveforms; doubles NATO's channel efficiency; reduces access time to software from 90 seconds to 4 seconds; and enhances bandwidth. "VISION gives network operators real-time capabilities to reconfigure UHF satellite networks to meet new mission profiles on-the-fly," a company official stated.
"Viasat's close partnership with NATO has been instrumental in helping the agency transition to new IW standards ahead of government schedules," said Giovanni Battista Durando, NATO Communications and Information Agency, Network Services and IT Infrastructure, SATCOM Service Area Owner. "By leveraging the Viasat VISION software, NATO network operators have gained more control over communications stations from a single terminal, simplifying operations and increasing the readiness of today's warfighter."
The company also announced that its suite of network encryption products was available for use by Five-Eyes coalition forces—including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. With the improved interoperability, the network encryption products will allow militaries across the Five-Eyes nations to secure and protect their critical information and improve mission effectiveness, the company stated. The products support Type 1 encryption for both Layer 2 ethernet data encryption and Layer 3 high assurance Internet protocol encryptor network protocols.
"The explosion of connected devices, cloud-centric networks and today's rapidly evolving cyber-threats has put the need for enhanced, interoperable network encryption solutions center stage," said Ken Peterman, president, Government Systems, Viasat. "By offering support for different network topologies across our portfolio of encryption products, we are able to help FVEY [Five-Eyes] government and military organizations secure their communications and sensitive data across next-generation network infrastructures and cloud-based systems."
