CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – Cobham Aerospace Communications and Capital Aircraft Services are delighted to announce that Capital Aircraft Services have completed the installation and testing of a fully visually discrete four channel Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satellite communications system on a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft in Canberra, Australia.

The AVIATOR 1600 SP is Cobham’s premium bandwidth multi-channel SwiftBroadband system offering the flexibility of multiple channels of data and voice communication to and from the PC-12 aircraft. Operating on L-Band frequencies, it is resilient against weather and presents a reliable connectivity suite for applications that rely on a high quality of service to operate mission-critical applications. Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband network provides seamless connectivity within its near-global coverage meaning predictable latencies and consistent connectivity in the majority of operational scenarios. The bandwidth provided by the system facilitates video-over-IP as well as generic data and voice communications to and from the aircraft. Applications like office-in-the-sky, ISR, medivac and mission control are all supported. Capital are also developing customised routers and management options for data optimisation to ensure each user the maximum bandwidth and best user experience available.

The PC-12 platform was chosen because of the RFDS need for useable lifesaving data availability anywhere in Australia in all weather conditions, in-flight and on the ground at remote destinations without 4/5G coverage. Data services such as voice, video, internet access, telemedicine, patient health records, aircraft fleet health data are all accommodated. RFDS is the largest PC-12 fleet operator worldwide. Having the choice of 2 or 4 channels of SwiftBroadband will allow customers to choose the bandwidth they need enabling simultaneous channel operations of Background and Streaming services as controlled by the router.

With initial Australian CASA CAR21 certification already approved, Capital Aircraft Services is pursuing options for an FAA STC as well.