BAE receives UK Falcon training contract

The UK MoD has awarded BAE Systems a £6.4 million contract to train and support personnel using the Falcon secure communications system, the company announced on 17 August.

The contract was awarded after the successful completion of an initial conversion training programme for Royal Air Force (RAF) and British Army personnel. Under the programme, RAF and army personnel were given training to convert from legacy systems to the Falcon system, which has been made the primary secure operational level communications system.

Falcon is a secure, ruggedised, deployable broadband data, voice and video communications system. It was accepted by the army in 2012 and entered into operations in 2014. 

BAE Systems is working in partnership with Babcock to provide the training infrastructure, support, management, training development staff and trainers for continued training development and delivery of the Falcon system for the next four and a half years.

Colonel Matt Fensom, commandant, Defence School of Communications and Information Systems (DSCIS), said: ‘Falcon provides a vital role on the battlefield, it gives us a competitive advantage and goes a long way to satisfying the UK MoD’s vision for information superiority.

‘We have welcomed the support that BAE Systems has provided in ensuring the transition of Falcon training to an established training programme has been as smooth as possible here within the DSCIS.’

Richard Checkley, head of the company's Falcon programme, said: ‘The way we support our products and services is fundamental and it’s something that we’ve been committed to getting right.  This contract confirms that the end-to-end support we provide to our customers is highly valued.

‘We look forward to continuing to provide the right kit and the right training to ensure our armed forces have the most effective secure and deployable comms systems that we can deliver.’