Nato is facing a fast-approaching deadline for replacing its satellite telecommunications capacity that, if missed, will result in "satcom blackouts" at a time when the alliance's engagements are extending far beyond its original borders, a NATO official said. The 28-nation NATO currently leases capacity aboard British, French and Italian national military telecommunications satellites in the SHF and UHF frequency bands. The arrangement is part of a contract vehicle called NATO Satcom Post-2000 for which NATO agreed to pay 457 million euros, or $617 million at current exchange rates, between 2005 and 2019. While a 2019 contract end is more than enough time for most telecommunications satellite programs, it is the equivalent of tomorrow for NATO's cumbersome procurement process, said Malcolm Green, chief of die Networking Information Infrastructure Communications Services at the NATO C3 Agency.
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