Secure, reliable, worldwide operations on the fly

SwiftBroadband allows simultaneous voice and IP data communications over low-profile antennas that are significantly smaller and lighter than any other systems on the market.

Our L-band SwiftBroadband solution is in use by government aeronautical customers, business jets and commercial airlines worldwide and has the highest number of installations of all our L-band services. More than 40 commercial airlines use SwiftBroadband - in fact, nine out of ten wide-bodied, trans-oceanic commercial aircraft have installed Viasat safety services. 

SwiftBroadband Airborne users benefit from the following key, distinct qualities: 

Unmanned aircraft

SB-UAV

Unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) is one of the fastest growing markets for satellite services but the constraints on SWAP considerations have often made it difficult to connect the smaller UAVs. SB-UAV (Class 4 Service) enables Viasat connectivity in low altitude, long endurance (LALE) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) platforms and provides a reliable command and control communications link Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS), as well as a real time feed from the on-board payload sensors.

SB-UAV offers a Class 4, single channel ‘always on’ data service up to 200kbps and can offer streaming class services up to 32kbps.

The tiny, all in one terminal for LALE UAV’s 

BLOS capability is now available to smaller LALE platforms thanks to the Cobham SATCOM AVIATOR UAV200 terminal, which dramatically reduces the size, weight and power requirement of the hardware terminal. The AVIATOR UAV 200 redefines UAV satcom connectivity by integrating everything into one compact, lightweight box. Weighing just 1.45 kg, it is 76% lighter than anything comparable on the market and is a perfect fit for the smaller UAVs favoured by governments. 

Rotary Wing Services

SB-Helo X-Stream

The SB-Helo X-Stream service has been specifically developed for rotary aircraft. The tailor-made solution is designed to achieve advanced streaming performance on intermediate and high-gain antennas, alleviating the connectivity constraints traditionally caused by rotary blades.

SB-Helo X-Stream is an enhancement of our X-Stream service and builds on our commitment to further meet the needs of government customers and partners. The new technical solution expands the resilience of the service on the aircraft by mitigating against data packet loss and has been proven to achieve a 40% reduction in data packet loss while delivering throughputs of up to 400 kbps per single channel. Multiple channels can be aggregated enabling enhancements in the overall performance of the system.

Applications

  • Cockpit safety services - ACARS, ADS, CPDLC
  • Voice communications
  • Electronic Flight Bag, flight plan, weather and chart updates
  • Cabin Wi-Fi or wired connectivity
  • In-seat and mobile phone
  • VoIP and text messaging
  • Email, intranet, internet and instant messaging
  • Secure virtual private network (VPN) access 
  • Video conferencing
  • Operational applications
  • Aircraft performance monitoring and fault reporting for major systems
  • General operational planning; scheduling and route planning
  • Crew reporting and general administration

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