GEC Plessey Telecommunications Ltd, as reported briefly (CI No 1,641) has won a UKP90m contract from the UK Ministry of Defence for the provision of services and civil works to house the Royal Air Force’s integrated voice and data network. The contract is the part of the RAF’s Uniter communications programme, which is being co-ordinated by GEC Plessey. Conceived in the mid-1970s, the Uniter project will eventually link 50 RAF sites and provide gateways to the Ministry of Defence, the Royal Navy, NATO and other military networks, as well as the public telephone network and other classified data systems. It will provide secure voice and data communication links, including a common user data system to send electronic mail between sites. The mail system will be installed at 20 locations and comprise 40 host minicomputers and 500 terminals. The network structure is made up of four basic elements. A Packet Switch Subsystem, connecting RAF computers and terminals, a Circuit Switch Subsystem based on GEC Plessey’s MX series of digital switches being installed at air defence headquarters, a Local Network Subsystem for individual sites using fibre optic cabling and a Network Management Subsystem enabling the whole network to be controlled and managed from a number of dispersed locations, helping to ensure security. The entire project is due to be completed in 1994 with GEC Plessey’s Coventry-based Strategic Communication Systems division undertaking the specification, competitive procurement and project management of a civil works programme to provide the protected environment within which most of the Uniter equipment will function. This is in addition to Strategic Communication Systems acting as the prime contractor for the design, supply and implementation of the system. The UKP90m contract includes the provision of purpose-built buildings and services to accomodate some of the communications equipment being provided by GEC Plessey. It includes the supply of 160 miles of duct for telecommunications lines.
