Yahsat and Astrium sign deal to provide defence operations and maintenance solution to UAE Armed Forces

Abu Dhabi, Feb 23, 2011 (WAM) - Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJsc (Yahsat) has signed a five year contract with Astrium Services, an EADS company, to manage the operations, training and maintenance for the network management and ground segments of the UAE Armed Forces' new military satellite communications system.
Through the long-standing expertise developed with its range of Paradigm services, Astrium has a unique heritage in military satellite communications (Milsatcom) services as the world's first and largest commercial operator of secure military satellites on the Skynet 5 programme for the UK Ministry of Defence. Astrium Services will draw on its experience and capability to meet Yahsat's high levels of service assurance, service delivery and robustness.
"It has been a great honour to develop a satellite communications solution to support our nation's defences and promote broader regional security," said Rashed Al Ghafri, General Manager of YahService. "The system Yahsat has worked to create is a flagship programme for the United Arab Emirates' Armed Forces. Obviously, successful operations and maintenance of the system will be critical for its future success. We are therefore very pleased to have the experience and support of Paradigm in delivering our operations and maintenance services and look forward to working with them over the next 5 years."
While the UAE is the first governmental client, YahService also offers a range of managed services and value added solutions to clients in defence, government and enterprise sectors. These services coordinate communications in areas including secure networking, mission critical applications, border control, disaster recovery and backup for key data networks. - Emirates News Agency, WAM