Sematron Supports, Sources & Services the UK MOD's State-of-the-Art Secure Communications Network

When the UK Ministry of Defence decided to upgrade and enhance its secure military satellite communications services they selected Paradigm Secure Communications Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, to fulfill the £2.5bn Skynet 5 Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract. Subsequently, when looking for a prime contractor, Paradigm turned to Astrium who have over 30 years experience in the space technology field, and are Europe's foremost supplier of space systems and services for telecommunications, Earth observation, navigation and science in both the military and civil spheres. The new system comprises of three Astrium-built Skynet 5 military satellites, a major upgrade to the fixed terrestrial infrastructure, networks and management systems in the UK, and a range of new tactical ground terminals for all three services.

Upon embarking on the enormous job of upgrading the tactical ground terminals Astrium had to undertake the vast task of identifying; specifying and selecting a wide range of equipment from satellite modems through converters to equalisers, high power amplifiers and switching matrices. Whilst conducting numerous supplier tender assessments covering the entire range of requirement, one name emerged consistently as an attractive solution; Sematron UK Ltd.

Sematron is the UK's largest supplier of satellite ground station equipment. Representing many of the World's leading Satellite equipment manufactures; Sematron offers a complete range of ground station equipment to both military and commercial customers for Communication and Broadcast requirements.

Throughout the 1990's many equipment suppliers concentrated solely on the booming commercial telecommunications market, Sematron, whilst successful in this area also continued to maintain its strong relationships with their direct military customers as well as the defence based prime contractors. As a result when the Skynet 5 program was awarded, Sematron found themselves in an excellent position to provide support and products from all four of their product groups. In addition to the Satellite Communication group, Sematron supply Components (RF, Microwave, Digital and Fibre); Test & Measurement Equipment and Network Timing Solutions.

Sematron prides itself on providing a comprehensive package of support from pre-sales consultation & support in product selection and definition; sourcing assistance and after sales service and maintenance.

To date, Sematron has supplied in excess of £5 million of product directly to Skynet 5 from coaxial attenuators through to modems, converters, matrix switches, GPS, receivers, and high power amplifiers. In addition to the supply of this equipment, Sematron has been successful in winning a 3 year Through Life Support (TLS) program with the aspiration of extending this support out to 2020.

This TLS contract covers not only equipment sold directly into Skynet 5 but also a further £4 million of legacy equipment. The Skynet 5 TLS provides Astrium with a comprehensive package of support from a fully inclusive ('no cost') workshop repairs service through to on-site support; spare logistics & management, monthly reporting & failure analysis as well as operation and diagnostic training.

To enable Sematron to support this contract, Sematron have invested in a new training suite, environmental test facility, expanded warehousing and customer furnished spares facility.