Airbus to provide maritime satellite surveillance services to the British Navy

According to information released on June 28, 2021, the British Royal Navy has granted Airbus a 12-month contract extension covering the continued provision of satellite maritime surveillance services for the Joint Maritime Security Center (JMSC).
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The British Royal Navy has granted Airbus a 12-month contract extension covering the continued provision of satellite maritime surveillance services. (Airbus photo source)

The contract follows the successful completion of a proof-of-concept phase and will ensure continued surveillance of areas of interest in UK waters and ultimately protect UK sovereign borders from suspicious vessel activity. Using optical and radar imagery as well as AIS (Automatic Identification System) data, Airbus will provide reports on ships in the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone, as well as information that will help prevent potentially illegal activities.

The JMSC, which is the UK government’s center of excellence for maritime safety, needed a range of services that would provide intelligence to augment their own surveillance activities. Under the agreement, JMSC will benefit from a wide range of monitoring and analysis capabilities from Airbus.

The contract includes vessel detection reports using SAR data analysis, either delivered in emergency mode for urgent satellite tasks required to monitor suspected vessels of interest around the world, or twice daily for the ‘general identification of vessels as well as the classification of “dark”. vessels in key areas of interest. In addition, the Defense Site Monitoring service, using automated algorithms applied to optical imagery, for the detection, recognition and identification of vessels will detail the evolution of port activity and will trigger alerts in the event of activity. abnormal.

Airbus surveillance services will give the JMSC a better understanding of the various activities in UK waters, particularly with a focus on potentially uncooperative vessels, helping to better address safety challenges and allowing resources to be quickly deployed to intercept.