Connecting those who protect us

Forty years ago, the Chernobyl disaster highlighted the need for new communication solutions for public safety. This event spurred the development of digital radio solutions, first adopted by European countries and later by others worldwide. For 40 years, Airbus has collaborated with innovative public safety and private organisations to pursue significant advancements in critical communications.

In 1988, we helped the French National Gendarmerie lead the way in digital radio adoption with their RUBIS system. Later, in the 1990s, we supported ASTRID in building the first advanced public safety communication network in Belgium, impressing users with its excellent voice quality. In 1997, we partnered with the Helsinki Energy Company to launch the first commercial TETRA network, HelenNet. Following this we built Virve, Finland's fully operational and truly nationwide network — the first of its kind globally. Finnish Public Safety forces quickly transitioned from their analogue system to Virve, immediately recognising its superior quality of service.

Technology is evolving faster than ever, and the introduction of 4G and 5G has added many new possibilities to enhance the way we communicate. Critical communications are changing to go beyond voice, leveraging video streaming and data from different sources. With these possibilities, users can enable automatic use in real time with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Airbus is leading the way in this transformation, with a prime example being ‘Réseau Radio du Futur’ (RRF), a nationwide critical communication network in France embarking on a journey to utilise full broadband technologies. As for the Virve 2 network in Finland, it leverages its existing TETRA network and draws benefits from broadband in a hybrid setting.