Airbus C295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA). Photo: Airbus

Viasat will equip a fleet of Airbus C295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) with Ku- and Ka-band satcom for the Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Viasat announced Thursday that it will work with Airbus Defence and Space to integrate its dual-band (Ku/Ka) broadband terminal, the GAT-5530, into the Spanish C295 MPA fleet. This will give the Spanish MoD with a flexible, multi-band and multi-orbit, broadband satcom capability to utilize the next-generation SpainSat NG satellites. 

Spain ordered 16 Airbus C295 aircraft in MPA configuration and Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) configuration in December 2023 under a $1.8 billion contract. 

“We are excited to expand our work with Airbus to support the Spanish Ministry of Defence with our highly flexible, multi-band terminal on the C295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft. Our connectivity solutions are designed to support modern military operation requirements with advanced, secure and resilient satellite communications. This includes enabling seamless roaming between sovereign and commercial networks,” said Victor Farah, senior vice president of Viasat Government.

Last year, Viasat and Airbus equipped two Irish Defence Forces C295 MSA aircraft with a Viasat terminal for managed satcom service.