
Skynet 5 ready to go
By Jo Best
Published: 24 October 2003 15:45 GMT
A "state of the art" satellite communications system – which will cost the UK taxpayer the princely sum of £2.5bn - has been given the green light today.
The satellite system, known as Skynet 5, was approved by defence procurement minister Lord Bach and is destined for the use of the British Armed Forces.
The lucky winner of the bumper contract is the Paradigm consortium, who will build and run the system under a Private Finance Initiative – the biggest ever handed out by the Ministry of Defence. It is hoped that the new system will secure around 1,900 jobs across the UK.
Lord Bach said in a statement: "Satellite communications are crucially important on the battlefield. They give our troops, their commanders and UK headquarters access to information across robust links."
He added that the system should be operation by 2005 and using an outside company to run the system would free up resources within the Armed Forces.
The use of military systems for commercial services, such as those based on GPS locations, has been common in the past. However, the wider implications of the Skynet 5 roll out are not yet known.
Our Information Management Department concentrates on gathering and analysing the intelligence that will help give the MoD, Armed Forces and UK ...
They are looking to appoint a Business Development Manager to work within Military Networks in the UK Defence sector both directly through the UK ...
A leading defence client of Pathway is currently looking to bring on board a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer to be based in their head office in ...
Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright © 2008 CBS Interactive Limited. All rights reserved. Top of page
Natasha Lomas Exclusive: Jimmy Wales on what's next for Wikipedia Why Wikipedia needs geeks and why a life unplugged is unthinkable
Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: United breaks guitars? Customer service has changed forever