The NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency has awarded Airbus a € 40 million contract for the delivery of the first phase of the new NATO Communications Infrastructure Project. The contract also includes options for future phases of the project, worth up to € 50 million.
The NATO Communications Infrastructure project will replace a major part of the NATO General Communications System (NGCS), involving 72 NATO sites. It will provide a major upgrade of wide area network protected IP communications across the NATO command structure, NATO headquarters and NATO points of presence in NATO member nations.
The project covers the delivery of upgraded IP access and transport services across different security classifications with significantly increased capacity, quality of service and traffic engineering capabilities. It also covers NATO unclassified voice services through the replacement of old telephony switches by voice over IP telephony at 25 sites.
The design review is estimated to be completed in December 2018 while the first phase of implementation should be completed by the end of 2019.
The NATO Communications Infrastructure Project, together with the IT Modernization Project and the Enterprise NATO Public Key Infrastructure Project, is part of the wider IT Modernization Program which aims to transform NATO's static IT infrastructure into a homogeneous enterprise. It will include customer-funded service delivery systems, with a common service management and control layer, increased levels of virtualization, modern cloud technology, and appropriate resilience mechanisms.
Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2017 it generated revenues of € 59 billion restated for IFRS 15 and employed a workforce of around 129,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats.
Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world’s leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.
