Thales wins french Airborne systems contract worth eur 365 millions
15 June 2001
The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has awarded Thales Optronique a contract worth FRF 2.4 billion (EUR 365 million) to develop and produce new-generation optronic airborne reconnaissance systems for the Air Force and Navy.
The contract, the largest awarded to Thales by the DGA in 2000, was won following a national competitive bidding procedure and consolidates Thales's position as the French defence ministry's leading optronic systems provider and a major global player in the airborne systems market.Several dozen of these high-performance systems will be produced to provide French forces with an effective day/night information gathering and real-time processing capability.
Each system comprises an aircraft pod equipped with electro-optical sensors, an air-ground datalink and associated data processing stations.
The new-generation systems rely on the latest optronics, digitisation and image processing techniques, as well as very high-speed real-time datalinks, and represent a technological revolution compared with the film-based equipment in service today.They will fly on Mirage 2000 N aircraft from 2006 and on Air Force and Navy versions of the Rafale from 2008, which will carry out airborne reconnaissance missions currently performed by Mirage IV/P, Jaguar, Mirage F1/CR and Super Etendard, which are also equipped with systems supplied by Thales.“I am delighted at our success in winning this contract with the DGA. It testifies once again to the technological capacity and innovation of the Group in the area of optronics, and reinforces our position as European number one,” commented Denis Ranque, chairman and CEO of Thales.Press contacts
Caroline Harvey-Gutierrez
Tel. 01 53 77 86 26
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