MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
217/97 December 16, 1997
UK, FRANCE AND GERMANY JOIN FORCES
FOR NEW GENERATION OF SATELLITES
The United Kingdom, France and Germany have signed an agreement which
could lead to a joint programme of military satellites for the new
millennium.
The Memorandum of Understanding covers the joint Project Definition
phase for a future military satellite communications system. The
joint programme is known as TRIMILSATCOM.
The intention is to let two parallel competitive study contracts to
the anticipated European prime contractors, Alcatal and Matra-Marconi
Space; each of the three partner nations' industries will be
equitably involved. After completion of these studies, it is planned
that a prime contractor will then be selected for the implementation
of the whole system, and a new MoU will be signed between the nations
to cover this phase. The system needs to enter service in the middle
of the next decade, to guarantee continuity of military satellite
communications services.
Military satellite communications are essential for all aspects of
modern defence, particularly in view of the increasing importance of
information availability to the success of military operations, on
land, sea and in the air. The new system will support military
requirements for survivable high data-rate communications within and
between operational theatres, and offer interoperability with allies.
The TRIMILSATCOM programme involves in particular the joint
development, manufacture and launch of a constellation of
geostationary satellites. The ownership and use of the constellation
will be shared between the partner nations. The programme also
includes joint management and control, together with the appropriate
user terminal development and ground station facilities. The use of
commercial services, which may be efficient for certain operations,
will also be studied during the Project Definition phase.
For the current phase of the programme, the partner nations have
decided to set up a joint project management team, manned by all
three nations, and have agreed on a common procurement strategy
focused on competition. It is planned that the new Joint Organisation
for Armaments Cooperation (OCCAR) will take on management
responsibility for the implementation phase of the programme.
The possibility of other nations and NATO involvement in the
programme is being explored under EUMILSATCOM arrangements, covering
Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The requirement for UK military satellite communications is
currently met by the SKYNET 4 Stage 1 system which consists of three
Super High Frequency/Ultra High Frequency (SHF/UHF) satellites and an
associated UK ground segment which provides satellite control and
communications management facilities. These are currently being
replaced by three new SKYNET 4 Stage 2 satellites, which in turn will
require replacement in the middle of the next decade. The programme
to provide these replacements is known as SKYNET 5.
2. Feasibility Studies (FS) for a number of collaborative approaches
aimed at exploring the practicalities of meeting the SKYNET 5
requirement took place between 1993 and 1996. The next stage is
Project Definition (PD), at the completion of which the project will
move into implementation, the design and construction of the
satellites and their associated ground equipment, and the launch of
the space vehicles.
3. From early on in the SKYNET 5 programme, discussions took place
with other nations concerning the scope for international
collaboration. Those with France were known as BIMILSATCOM; with the
addition of Germany, the initiative became TRIMILSATCOM. The
negotiations covering TRIMILSTACOM PD began in early 1996, and were
successfully completed in November 1997.
4. The complete TRIMILSATCOM programme envisages the joint
development, manufacture and launch of at least four Super High
Frequency(SHF)/Extremely High Frequency(EHF) satellites, together
with the upgrading of user terminal and ground station facilities in
each country.
5. TRIMILSATCOM PD envisages two parallel competitive studies being
carried out by two separate industrial groupings. These will
investigate a range of options for fulfilling the trinational
requirements, including both paper studies and the development of key
items of technology to investigate their applicability to proposed
solutions. At the end of the PD phase, priced bids for the
implementation contract will be sought.
6. Two industrial groupings have been formed, each led by a Prime
Contractor, with whom the actual PD contracts will be placed. One is
led by the French company Alacatel, the other by the Anglo-French
firm Matra-Marconi Space (MMS).
7. At the conclusion of PD, the two Prime Contractors will submit
bids for the implementation phase. The MoU for this phase will be
negotiated during the second half of the PD period between the
governments wishing to continue in the cooperative programme.
8. It is currently envisaged that implementation will be on the
basis of down-selecting the bid from the PD contractor that offers
the best value for money, but it is possible that new bids may be
invited should it appear advantageous to do so.
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