The German army will work together with France and Britain to build up a network of communications satellites by the middle of the next decade, a spokesman for the German Defense Ministry said. Confirming a report in Der Spiegel news magazine, the Defense Ministry spokesman said the communications satellites were needed to improve army leaders’ abilities to communicate with units in the field, in particular for the German army’s missions abroad, he said. Currently, the army rents satellites for its international communications. The joint satellite system should be functional by the year 2005. Der Spiegel said the Defense ministry had already budgeted about $132m for the development of the satellites, but that the total project would cost more than $660m. The magazine said Daimler-Benz Aerospace was among the firms working on the project.
