The UK Royal Navy’s HMS Ramsey. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

[Via Satellite 05-20-2014] Airbus Defence and Space delivered X-band satellite communications capabilities — Deployable Maritime Milsat (DMM) services that use Airbus’ Skynet 5 constellation — to four United Kingdom Royal Navy Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMVs) in the Arabian Gulf. These services are part of Airbus’ AuroraGlobal portfolio, which provides satellite communications services, making sure all vessels are connected to the maritime coalition network through the latest Global Internet Protocol Baseband (GiN) infrastructure.

“Communications and information are critical to warfare. … My situational awareness tools have been enhanced by the upgrade and my capacity to receive processed intelligence much improved,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ashley Spender, commanding officer on the Royal Navy’s HMS Ramsey.

Airbus is set to equip two additional vessels in the U.K. next, and is in talks with the U.K. Ministry of Defense (MOD) to extend capabilities across the full MCMV fleet.