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Skynet 5 under way as Paradigm’s welfare service moves within the PFI The first Harbour Acceptance Trial for SCOT 5 was conducted at HMS Collingwood under the Skynet 5 Programme Just one week after Skynet 5 contract signature, the first Harbour Acceptance Trial (HAT) for SCOT 5 - the Satellite Communications Terminal upgrades which are being implemented across the Royal Navy Fleet as part of the Skynet 5 programme - was conducted at HMS Collingwood, the RN Training Base. The delivery date was set in the Paradigm bid submission in February 2001 and has not changed since. It marks the first of the Terminal Services being provided under Skynet 5. The SCOT 5 equipment is the latest generation of naval satellite communications terminals and is being supplied by EADS Astrium, under contract to Paradigm.Following on from this initial HAT, the first shipborne terminal is being fitted onboard HMS Somerset in January 2004. A new SCOT 5 system will then be delivered approximately every month until the order for all 28 systems has been fulfilled. Since preferred bidder selection, the system team at EADS Astrium has been developing the Skynet 5 designs and conducting the relevant reviews, to enable manufacture to commence on the new satellites even before final contract signature. Build has now started on both the Communications Module panels and the Service Module. Paradigm has also been working with the DCSA on a ‘Transition Order’ which will bring its current ‘Project WELCOME’ activities within the Skynet 5 boundary. Paradigm has been successfully delivering the DCSA’s global welfare communications service, enabling troops to phone, and more recently email, home whilst they are on ‘MOD-entitled’ operations overseas, for the past 4 years. By bringing these services within the Skynet 5 contract, this secures the welfare programme for the 15-year Skynet 5 concession period. It will simplify management for the MOD and will allow longer-term service development by Paradigm, which is committed to further enhancing this service to benefit Forces personnel and their friends and families. An illustration of this, is increasing value for money on both publicly-funded and private minutes through regular call rate reviews. One example of this is that Paradigm has recently lowered its VSAT, Mentor and Iridium service rates. |
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