NATO SATCOM Post-2000

The NATO C3 Agency has now completed the source selection for NATO’s
new Satellite Capability in the SHF and UHF frequency bands. Proposals
were submitted by the U.S. and a Joint Consortium of France, Italy and
the United Kingdom and assessed in accordance with the standard NATO procedure
for International Competitive Bidding. The proposal submitted by the Joint
Consortium was determined to be the lowest priced, technically compliant
bid. The capability will be furnished through a service provision arrangement,
whereby the three Nations will satisfy the NATO requirements from within
their own national military Satellite Communications Programmes for 15
years, from 2005 through to 2019. The price offered by the Consortium
is within the NATO funding ceiling of Euro 457 million.

The winning offer will utilise the capacity of the satellites provided
by the French SYRACUSE series, the Italian SICRAL constellation and the
U.K. SKYNET 4/5.

The two existing NATO owned satellites are reaching the end of their
useful life cycle and this new capability will not only replace the existing
constellation but also give NATO a far greater NATO satellite capacity
to support its increasing commitment to deployable forces.

The NATO Post 2000 new capability is an essential element of NATO’s new
roles and responsibilities as defined at the Prague Summit in 2003 and
it is a major step in the transformation of NATO.