§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Skynet 5 UK Military Satellite Communications System; and if he will list the project milestones. [68505]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 3 February 1999]: The requirement for UK military satellite communications is currently met by the Skynet 4 Stage 1 system, which is being replaced by three new Skynet 4 Stage 2 satellites, the first of which entered service in May 1998. These, in turn will require replacement in the middle of the next decade. The programme to provide this future capability is known as Skynet 5. The preferred option is for the requirement to be met by a PFI service based solution.
The MOD is currently in the process of evaluating proposals from industry for the Design Phase of the programme and it would, therefore, not be appropriate to make specific comments on any aspect of the bids at this time. The contracts for this phase are due to be placed in February 1999. The Implementation phase is planned to commence in 2002, with initial communication services commencing in 2006.