Demonstration highlights successfully ability to quickly deploy mobile, high-throughput satellite communications solutions in commercial and military frequencies

Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, showcased its ongoing commitment to support government communications needs at the ‘Fall 2019 Think-Tank for Information Decision and Execution Sprint (TIDE Sprint)’ by providing a live demonstration of its ability to deliver seamless, interoperable, high-throughput and easy-to-use capabilities via its worldwide Global Xpress service. This was the first time in 17 years that a live technology demonstration has taken place at this prestigious event.

During the demonstration, the Global Xpress SATCOM as a Service – an end-to-end managed services capability – enabled the Panther II 96cm portable Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) system from L3Harris to provide secure streaming video from an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform. This video feed was uplinked through the terminal on a secure network to the Joint Operation Center (JOC) via Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking (MANET) radios, where it was used in conjunction with other video feeds to form a Common Operating Picture (COP). Further, an additional Mil-Ka antenna, GetSat’s Milli SAT W GX, was mounted to a vehicle in under 10 minutes and demonstrated the ease-of-use and quick deployment and adaptability of the terminal.

“We achieved our goal for participating in this important exercise, which was to demonstrate that Inmarsat services can seamlessly complement NATO’s own satellite resources with innovative, reliable and cost-effective communication technology that is readily available today,” said James Marley, Global Government Sector Director. “Global Xpress has proved to be a responsive and resilient solution that enables interoperability with military satellite resources across the globe to confront security challenges.”

The NATO requirements of interoperability and assured access were met by the Inmarsat demonstration. As a trusted owner operator and commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) partner to the government sector, Inmarsat’s Global Xpress meets the most stringent Information Assurance requirements and enables NATO and Allied Nations to complement their core MILSATCOM capability by leveraging the capacity, coverage and resilience features of Global Xpress. This enables access to high-performance Ka-bandwidth for optimal redundancy and diversity in contested operational environments.

“The Inmarsat live demonstration allowed us to see first-hand the ease of use and high performance that the Global Xpress solution can deliver to NATO to ensure users have a reliable, core communications link,” said NATO Allied Command Transformation’s SATCOM Programme Director SQN LDR Nick Bolan. “The opportunity to see this in action has been invaluable in shaping our understanding of how capabilities such as this can be used to augment our future SATCOM portfolio.”

In addition, Josh Cryer, Principal Engineer and Scientist, NATO Communication and Information Agency (NCIA), commented, “High Throughput Satellite (HTS) technology has proven essential to match the ever-increasing insatiable appetite for global, real time access to information in support military operations. The Global Xpress capability not only demonstrated delivery of high throughput transport, it also provided an ease of engagement that enables users of all skill levels to employ the technology with ease. This powerful technology demonstration will inform HTS applicability to future NATO operations.”

Global Xpress is the world’s first and only, globally available, seamless mobile wideband service.  In government service since 2014, Global Xpress has established itself as the gold standard for reliable communications across land, air and sea for assured mobile connectivity and interoperability with government satellite systems. Enhanced by the launch of GX5 in late November 2019, and with a further seven advanced GX payloads scheduled to launch in the coming four years, Inmarsat is ensuring the long-term satellite capabilities demanded by its customers, including NATO governments.

The TIDE Sprint is one of the Allied Command of Transformation (ACT) and NATO premier think-tank events. This event focuses on promoting innovation and evolves concepts and specifications in order to progress, improve and federate interoperability between NATO and Partner Nations Command and Control (C2) capabilities and IT services.