Viasat, Blacktree Technology Sign Agreement to Enhance Support for the ADF and Five Eyes Partners

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, today announced it signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) with Blacktree Technology,Pty Ltd (Blacktree), an Australian-based communications systems design and integration company, in November 2019. The SAA will enable Viasat and Blacktree to meet the needs of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) requirements, by providing rapid and cost-effective in-country manufacturing and support services for Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite communications (SATCOM) systems.

Colin Cooper, general manager, Government Systems, Viasat Australia commented, "Our agreement with Blacktree will play a critical role in supporting and expanding UHF support and maintenance resources in Australia, and will provide opportunities to investigate export of UHF products and services to Five Eyes (FVEY) and coalition UHF military SATCOM user nations."

"Blacktree welcomes the formalisation of the alliance with Viasat, which strengthens a relationship that enhances ongoing innovation and development of UHF SATCOM solutions and support for Defence customers in Australia and internationally," said Joe Nevin, director, Blacktree Technology.

Viasat's leadership in critical technology segments such as SATCOM, tactical networks and cybersecurity offers an opportunity for Australia to modernise systems used by the ADF. Viasat is a leader in UHF SATCOM and is working to assure global 25-kHz Demand-Assigned Multiple-Access and next-generation Integrated Waveform (IW) networks and services, enabled by Viasat's Visual Integrated Satellite communications Information, Operation and Networking (VISION) software platform continue to meet military mission requirements.

Viasat's Ka-band broadband satellites combined currently offer more bandwidth than any other satellite operator in the world.  Viasat is a vertically integrated satellite communications technology and services company, and is a leading provider of highly integrated GEO payloads, components & subsystems, gateway/teleport antenna systems, networking systems, user terminals for fixed & mobile applications, ASICs, MMICS, and/or modules for third party terminal developers.

Importantly from a defence perspective, beginning in 2021, Viasat plans to launch a new, global ViaSat-3 constellation of resilient, flexible and agile high-capacity communications satellites that will improve responsiveness of current and emergent defence mission threats.

Viasat's Australian Government Systems business is headquartered in Canberra and provides a wide range of defence technology capabilities and sovereign resources to meet Australia's needs.

The range of products being developed and supported by Blacktree include high-gain UHF helical antenna's, static and remote-control pedestal systems, filters and diplexers, HPA's, LNA's and RF management components. Blacktree's products are manufactured in Perth, complemented by support teams located in Darwin and Canberra, Australia.