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BAE SYSTEMS to support Austrian Military communications system

19 Jul 2001

BAE Systems has been awarded a contract to provide system care and the possibility of further enhancements for the Austrian national strategic and tactical military communications system, IFMIN.

The five-year contract, to be fulfilled by the Communications & Defence Infrastructure Division of BAE Systems Avionics, includes the supply of full-time dedicated BAE Systems staff to support the existing system, advise on development options, and offer technical infrastructure services such as configuration management and engineering database support.

This system care award succeeds earlier one-year support contracts which, in turn, succeeded the main supply contract undertaken in the 1990s by BAE Systems in partnership with local partners, Siemens Austria and KAPSCH.

IFMIN is based upon the company's highly successful Multi-Role Switch (MRS) family. Enhancements to the existing system are being discussed with the customer on a task-by-task basis and are subject to separate contract awards.

Note to Editors:

The MRS family has been supplied to a number of countries as the basis of their national or area communications systems capabilities. It offers a wide range of tactical and strategic circuit switches which can be used in headquarter access or trunk roles in hierarchical chain-of-command or mesh-connected area networks. MRS applications can be mobile for tactical operations, static for strategic purposes, or hybrid systems where mobile tactical elements move freely within a static backbone network. Switches can be installed in small, highly mobile, soft-skinned or armoured fighting vehicles. Alternatively, for strategic applications, switches can be rack-mounted in equipment rooms or bunkers.

The Communications & Defence Infrastructure (CDI) division of BAE Systems Avionics supplies tactical and strategic communications systems for all three domains, together with innovative information infrastructure and IFF systems, to support battlespace digitization. The division develops defence applications based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) sub-systems and accepts development risk from customer organisations. CDI's approach features the creation of Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) with procurement specialists and user representatives, and the development of industrial alliances with other major industry centres of specialist expertise in associated fields.