Looking to the East

In June, EMS SATCOM and Alnair announced the certification of a SwiftBroadband System on a Chinese Airline

EMS SATCOM and Alnair Aerospace announced the award of the first European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) on EMS SATCOM’s AMT-3800 High-gain Antenna (AMT-3800) and HSD-440 High-speed Data Transceiver. The antenna and transceiver were tested and certified on an Asia-based Airbus A319 air transport aircraft. The certification tests were successfully performed by Toulouse-based EAD Aerospace, also responsible for obtaining the antenna’s EASA STC.

The system, “SBB by Alnair,” integrated by Alnair Aerospace, also received a VSTC (Vendor Supplemental Type Certificate) approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). It provides passengers with worldwide high-speed airborne e-mail, voice, internet and Wi-Fi capabilities at affordable prices. It also provides Inmarsat cockpit safety services and Aero H+ voice. Both the AMT-3800 antenna and the HSD-440 Transceiver are Inmarsat SwiftBroadband type- and system-approved.

“Alnair Aerospace is proud of this achievement, thanks to its partnerships with EMS SATCOM, and EAD Aerospace,” said Regis Dumas, CEO of Alnair Aerospace. “This STC is easily expandable to also accommodate business and commercial aircraft. We expect it will pave the way for high-end connectivity. The EMS SATCOM eNfusion® antenna is well-suited to the air transport market.”

“EMS SATCOM is the first to provide the SwiftBroadband high-gain antenna and SwiftBroadband transceiver solution to the worldwide aeronautical market,” says EMS SATCOM Director of Commercial Sales, Jean Menard. “This new EASA certification builds on our commitment to deliver off-the-shelf solutions, and we are pleased to work with Alnair Aerospace to enter this up-and-coming market.”

Designed and manufactured by EMS SATCOM, the AMT-3800 high-gain, low-profile, Inmarsat antenna is a two-LRU solution. That means it is ARINC 781 and ARINC 741 compliant, and holds dual SwiftBroadband Inmarsat type approvals. The antenna is also compliant with multi-channel Aero-H, Swift 64 and SwiftBroadband services, as well as with a large number of communication systems. Certifications are also in place for the Boeing MD-87, B737, BBJ, B757, B767, Global Express and Dash-8, and in process for the Tupolev 204 and Airbus A-340, and A-320; held by EMS SATCOM dealers.

EMS SATCOM also designs and manufactures the HSD-440 transceiver. It uses a single avionics unit to add both SwiftBroadband cabin services and cockpit/safety services to an aircraft. The unit's integrated High Power Amplifier (HPA) and two transceiver subsystems provide maximum communications flexibility and redundancy. The HSD-440 Transceiver supports channels for ACARS, Aero H+ voice and Inmarsat SwiftBroadband cabin services. The unit has an automatic fallback to Swift 64 services over the I-3 satellites network, for ultimate reliability, and is Inmarsat SwiftBroadband type approved.