Army sets encryption for specialist vehicles

24.03.2012
ViaSat has been selected by contractor General Dynamics in the UK to design and develop the on-board encrypted data storage systems for the new British Army Scout Specialist Vehicles (SV).

The battle vehicles are scheduled to begin trials with the British Army in January 2013. The ViaSat systems will ensure that mission and communications system data is fully protected, meaning that the Army's ground-based ISTAR platform can securely capture, analyse, store and share over 6 terabytes of intelligence data, the suppliers said.

Chris McIntosh, CEO at ViaSat UK, said: "By combining our UK government-accredited hardware encryption technology with experience gained in other air and ground vehicle projects we can help provide peace of mind for those using the Scout SV that their data is not at risk."

The system includes purge controls to delete data encryption keys, making data irrecoverable in the event of enemy capture without having to spend extra time and resources on its destruction.

The storage system has also been designed to form the basis of future Scout SV variants and other vehicle programmes, helping to reduce the requirements and risks for UK development expenditure.

In other Ministry of Defence (MoD) news, the department recently Capita for a new British Army ten-year recruitment project, which will also serve the British Navy and Airforce. The value of the Army's Recruiting Partnering Project (RPP) is worth around £440 million.