[SatNews] With the FIFA World Cup in full swing, Astrium, in partnership with its wholly owned subsidiary Paradigm, is bringing a series of live matches directly to the Royal Navy throughout the tournament. Ahead of England’s next game with Slovenia, Astrium and Paradigm have increased capacity of their TOMS (Television Over Military Satellite) service to ensure that those on board Royal Navy vessels within the coverage area of the Skynet 5 satellites, can enjoy all the action from South Africa.

Astrium is enabling the Royal Navy to receive live World Cup games as they are transmitted via Astrium’s Secure Satcom Systems control centre in Portsmouth over the Paradigm-owned and operated UK military Skynet 5 satellites. The TOMS broadcast service, which is installed onboard all of the Royal Navy’s ships equipped with the Astrium-built SCOT terminals, allows the broadcast of recreational television and news services, with programs provided by the British Forces Broadcasting Service. Typically, TOMS operates at a “normal” image quality rate, but, following the UK Ministry of Defence’s request for increased satellite bandwidth from Paradigm for the duration of the World Cup, the service has been upgraded to a “high” image quality, enabling high-quality coverage all the way to the final. One of the ships to benefit from this extra service is the Royal Navy’s Flagship HMS Ark Royal, currently on overseas operations in the western Atlantic. As a user of the enhanced TOMS service, HMS Ark Royal can also transmit live reports to television news rooms, including the BBC and Sky News, to cover stories such as her current participation in Auriga 10 — a series of multi-national maritime exercises in the Atlantic.