Cobham has been selected by the UK Home Office to provide the full Emergency Services Network Aircraft Communications System (ESN ACS) as part of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP), in a contract worth £64m.
The system will provide mission critical push-to-talk voice and high-speed data services over LTE for all UK police and air ambulance aircraft with deliveries during 2021-22.
Cobham say that its solution, an evolution of its market-leading RT-7000 tactical radio selected for use by over 20 public safety aviation units worldwide, will simplify installation and ease user adoption by using existing form factors and familiar HMI from Cobham’s proven TETRA systems. Cobham say it will also supply highly sophisticated antennas to operate on both the ESN terrestrial band and dedicated Air to Ground network.
“As part of the ESN ACS project Cobham has collaborated with QinetiQ to bring world-class test and assurance capability to the team. Together, the two companies will deliver an assured programme for the UK Emergency Services, backed by 10 years of through life support with the option for a further 5 years.”
Paul Kahn, Sector President of Cobham Communication & Connectivity said in a release:
“This win reinforces Cobham’s position as the market leader in critical communications for airborne users. We are proud to offer our continued support to UK emergency services having provided their existing airborne TETRA communications systems since the inception of Airwave. We are excited to be involved in their transition to LTE, enabling new capabilities whilst maintaining the critical voice services upon which our emergency services depend to keep us safe.”
