Defense and Government

Our platform features superior standards for performance, efficiency, security and mobility for government and military agencies that rely on satellite to achieve mission success with the highest degree of visibility, coordination and safety.

Today, ST Engineering iDirect holds 44% of the total government & defense market. Our wholly-owned subsidiary iDirect Government is the market leading provider of VSAT for the US Department of Defense. We serve 20 of 27 EU Nations, 24 of 32 NATO Member States. We possess the largest installed base in VSAT humanitarian networks.

Today’s adversaries are becoming more sophisticated. Cybersecurity protocols such as transmission security, or TRANSEC, or third-party assurance such as the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 140-2 are requirements for critical communications. Additionally, newer constellations—LEO, MEO, HEO, HAPS—will cater to the bandwidth-hungry sensors and increased volume of mission critical communications. The ground and space segment technology combined with the services they deliver must work hand-in-hand to provide seamless and agile communications. In the near future, satellite 5G use cases such as smart nation and smart defense applications will require close interworking with terrestrial mobile networks.

Read our whitepaper, Gaining Operational Advantage Through Innovation MilSatCom Networks, to learn how military organizations can build a multi-layered security and resiliency network to obtain information superiority, tactical advantage and successful operations.

Fixed Communications

In order to support mission-critical applications across all sites and to remain interoperable with other networks, militaries require an IP-based solution that provides uniform connectivity whether a unit is stationary or on the move. Classified military communications traffic needs to be protected by the most stringent security standards. The fixed communication infrastructure is the permanent or semi-permanent satellite link between headquarters and remote operation sites.

Mission/Operation Support Networks

ST Engineering iDirect enables military formations to deploy secure, high-speed connectivity anywhere, delivering immediate access to mission-critical information. Maintaining connectivity in a military environment requires a network that can be rapidly set up and scaled without distance or terrain restrictions, and managed from a centralized location to monitor troop locations, gather intelligence, communicate tactical plans and advantageously allocate resources in the field.

COTM/P (Aero/Naval/Land)

The ST Engineering iDirect remote portfolio features rackmount modems, aero solutions and modem boards optimized for size, weight and power that can be integrated by our partners into specialized portable systems. Embedded mobility and security enable secure communication for military applications, in any environment, fixed and mobile.

Situational Awareness & Intelligence Gathering (SIGINT/COMINT)

The same mobility that maintains IP-satellite connectivity for vehicles, vessels and aircraft on the move, provides individual soldiers the ability to communicate with command. Thanks to smaller antenna and low-power terminals, warfighters can carry communications systems with them to receive battlefield imagery, to transmit situational video to base and receive telemedicine consultation for soldiers.

Manned Aircrafts, ISR, Border Patrol, UAV

With the flexibility and reliability offered by satellite communications, troops can gather and share intelligence from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ground vehicles and sensors. They can transmit a high volume of surveillance data from an airborne platform to the command and control in an adaptive environment at optimal service availability.

Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR)

The availability of always-on voice, video and data services also serves to boost troop morale by allowing communication with friends and family back home and the participation in online training and distance learning. Personal communications and training exercises will not interfere with mission critical applications due to ST Engineering iDirect’s ability to prioritize data across applications.

Read our whitepaper, Elevating Networks for Unprecedented Events, to learn how governments can invest in crisis management networks to reduce the impact of the current pandemic and understand longer-term satellite network architectures to prepare for upcoming disasters and virus outbreaks.

Civil & Government Networks

Governments must respond to the needs of citizens at all times and in all places with reliable and secure high-speed broadband that extends from urban centers to the outer edges of domestic borders and embassies abroad. Today, IP-based satellite communications plays a critical role in connecting government.The fixed communication infrastructure can be a permanent or semi-permanent satellite link between headquarters and remote operation sites.

Border Security

To fully support surveillance and security efforts along a nation’s border, broadband connectivity has to expand to checkpoints and outposts. While terrestrial infrastructure would be cost prohibitive and difficult to build out, ST Engineering iDirect’s platform can be extended to any location without expensive rollouts. CCTV feeds along the border are transmitted towards the central control center giving remote sites instant access to the internet to enable database searches, biometric information exchange, and face or number plate recognition services.

Education

Faced with the challenge of providing equivalent health and educational services to citizens in both urban and rural areas, governments need a communications system that can bridge the digital divide and bring high-speed connectivity to every corner of the country. ST Engineering iDirect supports multiple satellites and network configurations to ensure a uniform broadband experience.

Blue Light Services

Vehicles must be empowered to become mobile command centers, with access to real-time voice, video and data communications. ST Engineering iDirect’s modems can be easily deployed in the field to support both communications on the pause and communications on the move. And modem boards can also be integrated into third party systems, such as mobile fly-away units, to make satellite connectivity portable and deployable in any environment. 

Diplomatic Networks

Internationally, satellite is pivotal for supporting diplomatic communications and ministries of foreign affairs. Nations can set up a private, global, terrestrial-grade network to connect all their embassies, supporting highly secure strategic information exchange and enabling broadband applications across every location.

National Election Networks

Reliable VSAT networks link polling stations with the central coordination centers to exchange election results and transmit video surveillance feeds for transparency and security.

Emergency Response, Disaster Recovery

Satellite connectivity is critical for first response efforts, especially when terrestrial networks are destroyed or are unavailable. First response teams may use satellite connectivity on-the-move to build situational awareness, at a disaster site to coordinate lifesaving efforts, and after a disaster to assist recovery operations.

As emerging technologies are introduced to disaster response—such as drones and IoT devices—greater bandwidth is needed. Technology that is easy to use, adheres to SWaP requirements, and multipurpose (such as hybrid networking platforms) is especially valuable.

NGOs

Non-governmental organizations leverage on satellite communications in rural or remotes areas to improve economic, social, political, and cultural situations. Whether sharing information and coordinating operations or ensuring the safety of personnel abroad, reliable communications is essential in successful missions.

Advanced security

TRANSEC and FIPS represent important features for secure networks. Our TRANSEC solution has three main objectives: mask channel activity, control channel information, and ensure hub and remote authentication and validation.

ST Engineering iDirect’s TRANSEC solution was awarded the 2019 Top Cybersecurity Solution by the Mobile Satellite Users Association (MSUA).

FIPS 140-2 provides stringent third-party assurance of security claims on any product containing cryptography that may be used by a defense organization. Our defense-grade products are FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified. 

Advanced mobility features 

Automatic beam switching

Enables remotes to travel across satellite footprints and maintain seamless connectivity without the need for manual intervention.

OpenAMIP

Allows the choice of antenna to be agnostic due to the protocol that facilitates the exchange of information between the antenna controller unit and a satellite router.

Spread spectrum

Helps mitigate satellite interference common with ultra-small antennas or phased-array antennas, while maintaining a reliable and efficient link.

Global NMS

Enables every remote to have a fixed global IP address and acquisition key for TRANSEC enabled networks. A remote can have multiple instances in different hubs, allowing for configuration differences across beams, including varying out-route and in-route sizes, as well as different Quality of Service (QoS) profiles.

Portability

Our man-portable terminals with reduced SWaP are making it easier for teams on the move to transport and quickly deploy a communications center to stay connected. The ability to provide high broadband speeds and auto-acquire VSAT signals make man-portable terminals a powerful solution. 

Environmental compliance

Our defense-grade hardware meets the MIL-STD 810G standard for physical durability. 

WGS Certified

Organizations in Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) countries need the flexibility to operate on WGS frequency ranges for secure network deployments. 

Next generation waveforms

ST Engineering iDirect is prioritizing waveform development, innovation and efficiency. We are leading a consortium of European companies to design and develop the European Protected Waveform (EPW) under the 2019 European Defense Industrial Development Program (EDIDP).