Navy Radio broadcasts from Portsmouth Naval Base for four weeks to an audience within a five-mile radius and to listeners worldwide via the internet.

The station, headed by former Radio 1 DJ Mark Page, is broadcasting a lively mix of music, news, sport, information and entertainment aimed specifically at a Navy audience on 87.9FM and at www.navyradio.co.uk.

This includes a daily news bulletin devoted solely to news from the Royal Navy across the globe. For the last five years Mark has been head of Garrison Radio which broadcasts 24-hour stations at five Army garrisons in the UK, and he is now keen to create a bespoke service for the Navy.

"We are starting with this four-week trial to see how things go and we have deliberately timed it with the busy summer of events in Portsmouth including the International Fleet Review and the International Festival of the Sea," he said.

"We hope the trial will lead to a permanent Navy Radio which will have a role to play in Navy communications both internal and also to the local community.

Captain Ian Beaumont, the Base’s director of personnel, said he was looking forward to Navy Radio’s presence. "It will have an important role in publicising the Trafalgar 200 events, and also it will be useful in getting internal news and information to Naval and civilian personnel working in the Base."

The station has been sponsored by two military service providers. “We are delighted to host Navy Radio 87.9 FM in our Queen Street offices," said Al Voice, Managing Director of NAAFI Financial.

"Being at the hub of activities during this action packed month will be terrifically exciting, and we congratulate Navy Radio on being the first to launch a dedicated service for the Royal Navy and it’s extended family. We wish them every success – with so much to cover in the coming days it’s bound to be lively and very entertaining listening."

Paradigm Services who provide Welfare Communications to the Royal Navy are a joint sponsor of the station. Sara White, Paradigm's Marketing Manager said: "Improving communications for service personnel is our business - and we are delighted to be sponsoring the first Navy Radio Station which will help everyone stay in touch with what's happening."

Paradigm developed the TextLink satellite communication system under contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to provide welfare communications for early-entry troops deployed in areas where other communication infrastructure is not available. Soldiers in the field can use the portable, lightweight TextLink terminals to send and receive e-mails, SMS short text messages, both Royal Mail and BFPO postal letters, as well as providing the very latest daily news in text format.

Each TextLink package consists of one hardened flight case containing one Iridium 9505 satellite phone and two ruggedized laptop computers. As a minimum, two packages are deployed to create a wireless local-area network. One of the laptops serves as a local server and is connected to one of the Iridium 9505 satphones. The other laptops are deployed within the range of the wireless connection around the camp for troops to use. The second Iridium satphone provides backup and can be used for voice calls as needed. The system compresses and bundles emails, SMS messages and letters for transmission through the Iridium satellites at regular intervals.

"We designed TextLink to be easy to use with very little training and maintenance, making it ideal for scenarios ranging from early-entry forces to reconnaissance missions," said Peter Bruton, Managing Director of Paradigm Services Ltd. "The system incorporates the latest technologies to provide a light, robust and resilient service for rapid deployment. We use compression, intelligent dialing, store-and-forward, full-duplex operation and interactive account management techniques to provide a highly cost-effective service."

Greg Ewert, Executive Vice President of Iridium Satellite, said, "We are proud to be able to provide vital welfare communications for British troops deployed around the world. Iridium's global coverage, robust data services and lightweight mobile user equipment are ideal for this application."

Paradigm Secure Communications signs export contract for Milsatcom services with Canada Paradigm Secure Communications Ltd., has been awarded a contract by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) for the delivery of military communications services to the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND). This agreement requires Paradigm to provide managed secure communications services to the Canadian Navy, on an as and required basis. Paradigm will also provide the use of modem equipment in the UK to support the service and the provision of a dedicated backhaul connection between UK and Canada. This will allow the Canadian Military direct access to secure, survivable satellite communications, which will enhance their communications capability in remote areas, facilitate their role in NATO and national operations, and allow cost-effective management of these resources. Paradigm Secure Communications, a subsidiary of EADS SPACE Services, is the world’s first commercial provider of Military X-band Services and the only company able to offer X-band communications on hardened and protected satellites that are compliant to NATO standards. Malcolm Peto, Managing Director of Paradigm Secure Communications, said, “Paradigm is delighted to make this announcement and I look forward to continuing our close working arrangements with the Canadian Military. I am very pleased with the fast and responsive interaction between our teams and I welcome the DND to the Paradigm Milsatcom club.” Paradigm is able to offer this unique service to export customers as a result of the signing of the groundbreaking Skynet 5 Private Finance Initiative contract with the UK MOD in October 2003. In May 2003, Paradigm took over operations of the entire UK MOD satellite communications (satcom) network, and is today meeting all the UK Armed Forces’ satcoms requirements through a comprehensive managed service approach. The Skynet 5 PFI programme will deliver the most advanced and flexible satellite communications service with greatly increased throughput over the current system – the new satellites will have 12 times the power and will set the benchmark for military X-band performance. The service will enable instantaneous voice, video and data transmission between users deployed in a wide range of operational scenarios. Individual requests for services to meet specific operational requirements are handled by Paradigm, which provides 24/7 365 day support.

The link between one of NATO's Ground Stations in Europe and NATO’s front line operational forces was provided by the UK's Skynet 4 satellite constellation, owned and operated by Paradigm. This was the first operational link in the NSP2K contract between NATO and the UK, Italy and France for the provision of all NATO's satellite communications services from 2005 until 2019.

Paradigm provides the UK share of the military satellite space segment communications capability for the use of NATO. Paradigm will initially use its existing UK Skynet 4 constellation, with the additional capacity of the new Skynet 5 satellites from 2007.

This first link marks the start of the migration of NATO’s satellite communications from its existing spacecraft to those of the UK, France and Italy.

Malcolm Peto, Managing Director of Paradigm Secure Communications said, "This is fantastic proof of Paradigm's responsiveness to meet NATO expectations and the first milestone at the start of our 10-year relationship with NATO."

The contract is valued at around £100m over the concession.

This is the culmination of the competitive procurement and negotiation process following NATO’s announcement in May 2004 of the selection of the UK, Italian and French consortium as the preferred bidder. The proposal was submitted in August 2002.

The signature of this contract is another landmark in the development of Paradigm’s military satellite communications business. After signing the £2.5Bn UK MOD Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract in October 2003, Paradigm has supplied specialist military communications services to a number of countries and now also looks forward to a long-term partnership with NATO. The NATO contract is a further demonstration of the flexibility and opportunity that can be provided within the PFI business model.

From the beginning of 2005 Paradigm will be providing the UK share of the military satellite space segment communications capability to NATO and its member states for use when on NATO operations. Paradigm will initially use its existing Skynet 4 constellation and then migrate to new Skynet 5 satellites from 2007. Paradigm is procuring the entire Skynet 5 system including satellites, ground stations, land mobile terminals, shipborne terminals, satellite and network control and management systems from EADS Astrium Ltd.

Through the national military satellite communications systems of France, Italy and the UK, NATO will be able to satisfy its ever-increasing milsatcom requirements. The new and highly capable systems now available will ensure coherence with the changing NATO crisis management role and provide a fully deployable communications capability in support of such operations.

This agreement requires Paradigm to provide managed secure communications services to the Portuguese Armed Forces, as and when required. This will allow the Portuguese military direct access to secure satellite communications, which will enhance their communications capability in remote areas, facilitate their role in NATO and National operations, and allow cost-effective management of these resources. Malcolm Peto, Managing Director of Paradigm Secure Communications, said “This is brilliant news, my team are pleased to be working with the Portuguese military. With the constructive and responsive way that our teams have worked together we look forward to continuing to develop our ties with Portugal. After the recent NATO satcom announcement this further validates the rationale for a Milsatcom services market”.

Paradigm is able to offer this unique service to export customers as a result of the signing of the innovative Skynet 5 Private Finance Initiative contract with the UK MOD in October 2003. In May 2003, Paradigm took over operations of the entire UK MOD satellite communications (satcom) network, and is today meeting all the UK Armed Forces’ satcoms requirements through a comprehensive managed service approach.

The signature of this agreement by the Portuguese Armed Forces is confirmation of the close working relationship developed over the years between the Portuguese MOD/CHOD and EADS SPACE - Paradigm’s parent company and the space arm of the world’s second largest defence and aerospace company, EADS. Within the EADS SPACE division, Paradigm forms part of EADS SPACE Services, which has been set up to deliver innovative service solutions by means of space technologies in the fields of navigation and communications.

This agreement requires Paradigm to provide managed secure communications services to the Canadian Navy, on an as and required basis. Paradigm will also provide the use of modem equipment in the UK to support the service and the provision of a dedicated backhaul connection between UK and Canada. This will allow the Canadian Military direct access to secure, survivable satellite communications, which will enhance their communications capability in remote areas, facilitate their role in NATO and national operations, and allow cost-effective management of these resources.

Paradigm Secure Communications, a subsidiary of EADS SPACE Services, is the world’s first commercial provider of Military X-band Services and the only company able to offer X-band communications on hardened and protected satellites that are compliant to NATO standards.

Malcolm Peto, Managing Director of Paradigm Secure Communications, said, “Paradigm is delighted to make this announcement and I look forward to continuing our close working arrangements with the Canadian Military. I am very pleased with the fast and responsive interaction between our teams and I welcome the DND to the Paradigm Milsatcom club.” Paradigm is able to offer this unique service to export customers as a result of the signing of the groundbreaking Skynet 5 Private Finance Initiative contract with the UK MOD in October 2003. In May 2003, Paradigm took over operations of the entire UK MOD satellite communications (satcom) network, and is today meeting all the UK Armed Forces’ satcoms requirements through a comprehensive managed service approach.

The Skynet 5 PFI programme will deliver the most advanced and flexible satellite communications service with greatly increased throughput over the current system – the new satellites will have 12 times the power and will set the benchmark for military X-band performance. The service will enable instantaneous voice, video and data transmission between users deployed in a wide range of operational scenarios. Individual requests for services to meet specific operational requirements are handled by Paradigm, which provides 24/7 365 day support.

The Ministries of Defence of France, Italy and the United Kingdom have been jointly selected by NATO to provide its new Satellite Communications capability from 2005 through to 2019. The NATO SATCOM Post-2000 capability requirement for SHF and UHF space segment is to be provided through the existing national programmes – Syracuse in France, Sicral in Italy and Skynet in the UK.

Paradigm Secure Communications, as the military satellite communication (Milsatcom) provider in the UK has supported the UK MOD and contributed to this innovative proposal for the provision of military communications services. Paradigm Secure Communications will play a major role in meeting the NATO requirement.

Through the national systems of France, Italy and the UK, NATO is now able to fulfil its ever-increasing milsatcom requirements. These new and highly capable systems will ensure coherence with the changing NATO crisis management role and will provide a fully deployable communications capability in support of such operations.

Malcolm Peto, Managing Director for Paradigm Secure Communications, said, “This is excellent news for Paradigm and the European space industry. Paradigm signed a £2.5bn contract with the UK MOD for milsatcom services last year and this announcement really reinforces Paradigm’s pre-eminent position both in milsatcom service provision and the international arena.”

The three Nations’ procurement agencies: DGA for France, Teledife for Italy, DPA for the UK and their respective industry partners agreed to work together to offer NATO the optimum SHF and UHF milsatcom solution. The milsatcom providers of three nations have already formed a cohesive team. Alcatel Space in France, Alenia Spazio in Italy and Paradigm Secure Communications in the UK are all key players in the European satellite space industry and have been working closely together throughout the procurement process. The project has further backing and support from each of their parent companies: Alcatel, Finmeccanica and EADS.

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.

Amsterdam, 26 May 2003 – On Monday, the European Commission formally approved the acquisition by EADS (stock exchange symbol EAD) of the 25 percent stake (27.5 percent economic share) in EADS Astrium, Europe’s leading space company, formerly held by BAE SYSTEMS plc.

With the permission of the European Commission, the transaction was implemented on 7 May. EADS now wholly owns its Space activities, meaning it can integrate and restructure the Space business worldwide to enhance competitiveness in current market conditions. EADS is now starting to implement its comprehensive restructuring programme, including site reallocation according to a centre-of-competence approach and sourcing reorganisation. The EADS Space management plans to save a total of € 500 million in recurring costs by the year 2005 and to reach EBIT breakeven by 2004 for the Space Division.

According to the two companies’ agreement which was announced at the end of January 2003, BAE SYSTEMS and EADS have each injected € 84 million equity into EADS Astrium Limited. EADS has also made a further € 99 million capital increase at EADS Astrium Limited. As the purchase price for BAE SYSTEMS' stake was also € 84 million, the transfer was effectively implemented for zero cash consideration.

Full control of Paradigm Secure Communications Ltd., selected for the Skynet 5 military communications satellite programme formerly held jointly by BAE SYSTEMS and EADS, has already been transferred to EADS. Full ownership of Paradigm will allow EADS to expand in military telecommunications satellites services, which is a major area of future growth.

About EADS:

EADS is a global aerospace and defence company and is the world’s second largest in terms of revenues with € 29.9 billion in 2002. EADS has a workforce of more than 100,000 and is a market leader in defence technology, commercial aircraft, helicopters, space, military transport and combat aircraft, as well as related services. Its family of leading brands includes the commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter manufacturer Eurocopter, the space company EADS Astrium and MBDA, the world’s second largest missile company. EADS is the biggest partner in the Eurofighter consortium and heads the A400M military transport aircraft programme. The company has over 70 sites in Germany, France, Great Britain and Spain. It is active in many regions worldwide, including the U.S., Russia and Asia.