Swiss Department of Defence completes essential communication project milestones with FREQUENTIS

Company FREQUENTIS
Date 08.10.2020

The Swiss Federal Office for Defence procurement, armasuisse, has worked closely with Frequentis to complete important contract milestones despite the pandemic travel restrictions. Frequentis is replacing the voice communication infrastructure of the Air Defense Direction Centers and Military Airbases, supporting the needs of the Swiss Air Force.

The suspension of flights from mid-March initially prevented us from achieving our goals for the Swiss defence projects. Specification workshops and site acceptances were at risk in May and June, however, together with armasuisse we created an individual strategy for each milestone and the team was able to achieve success”, said Peter Skiczuk, Frequentis Vice President Defence. “Any delay to our projects would have been a logistical challenge for the following project phases. This positive result is a true reflection of the quality of the business relationship between Frequentis and armasuisse, built over more than two decades.

Frequentis has been working on the step-by-step replacement of the existing Swiss voice communication infrastructure since 2016, replacing the FLORAKO Air Defense Direction Centers and radio sites with modern IP technology. Frequentis delivered the first voice communication system (VCS) for the Swiss Air Force in 1999, within the framework of the FLORAKO program. Furthermore, Frequentis has been in the rollout phase of the VCS Airbase project since 2019. The important reference site acceptance test for this project was able to be carried out remotely and was a prerequisite for implementing the Frequentis secure VCS, the iSecCOM, at three further airbases: Payerne, Emmen(completedin July and August 2020), and Sion(to be completed in October 2020)

For other milestones requiring engineers onsite, including the implementation of the DIVOS voice recording system, the air travel restrictions led to the need for a more detailed planning. Some journeys could be made by car, but those more crucial and time critical received appropriate transport support.

This project is characterised by understanding, trust, and full commitment to the pursuit of the common project goals. The implementation of special measures ensured it was possible to reach the milestones and adhere to the deployment plan, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state-of-the-art Voice over IP technology from Frequentis will provide the Swiss Air Force with a voice communication system which, with the latest updates,meets its high requirements. The Frequentis iSecCOM provides single and dual security domain (RED/BLACK, secure/unsecured communication) IP voice communications for mission-critical tactical and operational command and control systems, meeting both security and safety requirements in one system. Adhering to military and industry standards, it gives operators everything they need for effective mission management across telephone, intercom, radio, recording, data, and conference services, all via a single operator position with customisable Human Machine Interface.

Replacing the FLORAKO ADDC voice communication infrastructure is scheduled to run until 2025 with the Airbases set to complete in 2021.

 

Contact

FREQUENTIS AG
Innovationsstrasse 1
1100 Vienna,
Austria
  • +43/1/81150 - 0