Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) is keeping Canada's government and Canadian Armed Forces safer by providing improved satellite communications (SATCOM) service over ViaSat-2, an advanced communications satellite. The ViaSat-2 SATCOM system is the first in Viasat's series of ultra-high-capacity global satellite networks, which will enable superior reach, readiness, and resiliency for military forces around the globe.
At CANSEC 2018, Viasat conducted its first international defense-focused ViaSat-2 system demonstration—attended by representatives from the Canadian Armed Forces—showing cloud-based applications and services delivered over Viasat's secure, resilient, high-capacity SATCOM network in Canada.
ViaSat-2 system innovations available to Canadian Armed Forces and government users include:
- Transmit bandwidth-intensive, media-rich cloud applications: Fast data rates and more satellite capacity enable 4Kand HD video streaming to thousands of electronic devices simultaneously for greater operational capabilities.
- Information assurance: Security advancements available on ViaSat-2 will provide secure Internet Protocol (IP) networking and data storage for sensitive and top secret communications as well as accredited encryption systems including Viasat's KG-250X, which is approved for use for Canadian Department of National Defense (DND).
- Defense against electromagnetic, terrestrial or cyber-attacks: The resilient nature of the Viasat network will enable mission-critical communication packets to be protected and distributed safely, even in highly contested environments.
- Assured communications: Viasat's Hybrid Adaptive Network (HAN) concept will provide a global, redundant system for the Canadian government and military to access Viasat's global Ku-band networks, its more advanced Ka-band networks, as well as the Mercury Global Project/Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) system. Viasat's HAN will allow terminals to roam across multiple networks to maximize resilience and collaboration for ground fixed, transportable, mobile, maritime and airborne platforms.
Ken Peterman, president, Government Systems, Viasat said that they are proudly demonstrating emerging military and government concepts of operations requiring bandwidth-intensive, cloud-connected applications with their latest high-throughput commercial satellite, ViaSat-2. Viasat is committed to delivering the latest advancements in SATCOM technologies for U.S. and international coalition partners. The innovations in the new ViaSat-2 satellite and network further demonstrate that they can provide their allies and coalition partners with superior SATCOM and communications services that will enable access to a number of bandwidth-intensive applications required for missions of today and tomorrow.
The ViaSat-2 satellite system verifies the performance advantages and capabilities of Viasat's commercial SATCOM system today with a glimpse into the Company's ViaSat-3 SATCOM system capabilities. Viasat's SATCOM network delivers bandwidth and resilience, redundancy and active cyber protection required to maximize operational performance in the contested environments military operations face during combat.
