25 January, 2019: Collins Aerospace is all set to team up with Boeing and Iridium, a global mobile satellite communications company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, USA to provide Iridium Certus terminals on Boeing 737 MAX and 777X airplanes. It will be the first forward-fit Iridium Certus SATCOM terminal to be certified for the aircrafts and its certification is expected in 2021.
High performance broadband solution for long range data and voice communication with global coverage for the connected aircraft is possible because of the scalable Iridium. Iridium solution for the 737 MAX is currently provided by Collins.
Steve Timm, Vice President and General Manager of Commercial Avionics for Collins Aerospace said, “Pilots are seeing new graphic and data-rich aircraft applications come onboard which require higher data speeds in order to function. The Iridium Certus solution not only accommodates these complex applications, but does so in a protected and secure environment.”
“The result is easier planning and routing for the airlines that then creates a more positive travel experience for passengers.” continued Steve.
Safety services with two voice channels and ACARS/CMU datalink simultaneously providing cockpit voice and data connectivity will be supported by the solution.
An easy upgrade path will also be provided from currently installed Collins Iridium solutions with a common antenna hole pattern, tray size and modest connector re-pinning.