CHRISTCHURCH IN DORSET, England, 5 July 2005. BAE Systems Insyte division, based at Christchurch in Dorset, England, was named today as preferred bidder for Project Falcon, which is to equip senior commanders in the British army with a network for controlling combat operations at corps, division, and brigade levels.
Falcon will have more than 50 times the data throughput capacity of the systems it replaces. It will improve the capability of the army's communications network and reduce the number of Royal Signals vehicles and personnel necessary to support a major headquarters.
"Falcon will underpin British industry's position at the forefront of communications technology worldwide," says British Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson. "We envisage Falcon as a key part of the network-enabled operations that will help clear the fog of war and ensure the British army dominates the battlefields of the future."
The Falcon network transmit large amounts of data, including real-time video, between army headquarters. Falcon will be deployed to and operated by Royal Signals units and will allow significant operator reductions over the existing Ptarmigan system.
"Falcon, together with the Bowman tactical communications system and the Cormorant command system -- now in service with British forces -- will give our Forces that crucial advantage," Drayson says.
Falcon will provide the battlefield communications infrastructure to support the army's command systems. The Bowman tactical system will feed information seamlessly into Falcon, which will link back to United Kingdom headquarters in real time using the Skynet 5 satellite communications system.
