Press Release (2004)072 5 May 2004

NATO SATCOM POST 2000 The NATO C3 Agency has now completed the source selection for NATO’s new Satellite Capability in the SHF and UHF frequency bands. Proposals were submitted by the U.S. and a Joint Consortium of France, Italy and the United Kingdom and assessed in accordance with the standard NATO procedure for International Competitive Bidding. The proposal submitted by the Joint Consortium was determined to be the lowest priced, technically compliant bid. The capability will be furnished through a service provision arrangement, whereby the three Nations will satisfy the NATO requirements from within their own national military Satellite Communications Programmes for 15 years, from 2005 through to 2019. The price offered by the Consortium is within the NATO funding ceiling of Euro 457 million. The winning offer will utilise the capacity of the satellites provided by the French SYRACUSE series, the Italian SICRAL constellation and the U.K. SKYNET 4/5. The two existing NATO owned satellites are reaching the end of their useful life cycle and this new capability will not only replace the existing constellation but also give NATO a far greater NATO satellite capacity to support its increasing commitment to deployable forces. The NATO Post 2000 new capability is an essential element of NATO’s new roles and responsibilities as defined at the Prague Summit in 2003 and it is a major step in the transformation of NATO. For further information, please contact the NATO Press and Media Service in Brussels, Tel: +32 (0)2 707 50 41, fax: +32 (0)2 707 50 57.

Tel: Fax: +32 (0)2 707 50 41 +32 (0)2 707 50 57 B-1110 Brussels/Bruxelles http://www.nato.int press@hq.nato.int