Honeywell and Thales Avionics have received approval from Inmarsat for their Swift64 high speed

data-capable airborne satellite communications systems.

The companies say that the system increases data rate delivery nearly 25 times, from the present 2.4 kilobits per second (kbps) to as much as 64 kbps. The speed improvement is accomplished by adding the HS-600 high speed data unit to a Honeywell/Thales MCS satellite communications system. Orders are being taken and deliveries will begin in June – a year earlier than expected.

“When coupled with a dedicated high power amplifier, the HS-600 and our MCS-6000 sat com unit are capable of supporting five simultaneous voice channels along with one Swift64 data channel,” said Ken Snodgrass, Honeywell’s RF Systems marketing director. “Our MCS-7000 unit will provide six simultaneous voice channels with an additional channel for high speed data.”

“Everyone who has seen the HS-600 perform has been impressed,” said Paul Kahn, Managing Director for Thales Avionics Ltd. To support the HS-6000 high speed data product, Honeywell is offering its

OneLink Inmarsat voice and fax airtime services to include worldwide Swift64 air time. While the system is capable of a maximum of 64 kbps, the actual data rate may vary. During demonstrations, rates were clocked from 46 kbps to 57 kbps during web browsing, video conferencing and e-mail transfer.