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Thales awarded Netherlands Digitised Soldier System contract

29 October 2004

As part of the Dutch Digitised Soldier System (D2S2) programme, the Netherlands' Ministry of Defence has awarded Thales a contract to develop and deliver prototype systems that will be the key components of the future Dutch digitised soldier system. These components will provide the Netherlands' infantry with a communications infrastructure to meet the exact operational needs of its forces.

This contract includes soldier radios, a central processing computer with a unique user-friendly control unit and dedicated soldier and commander interactive displays. The system will be linked to the Netherlands Army's command & control battle management system. With this new capability, the soldier will become a "individual network" integrated into the company chain of command. This will enable the Netherlands' Armed Forces to increase the tempo of its operations and improve survivability by providing real time accurate information to those who need it.

A key factor in Thales' selection was the Group's open systems engineering approach which enables the Netherlands' Armed Forces to gain the maximum benefit from legacy equipment and benefit from future upgrades and changes in technology. This provides a robust evolutionary capability that will benefit the defence organization in the long term.

The systems are very low weight and modular, which are key drivers in the development process to ensure that the systems are ideally suited to the new threats and operational requirements of the Netherlands' forces. Thales digitised suite of open-standard radios provides greater interoperability, which is critical to mission success in joint operations.

The development is a joint initiative of the Netherlands Ministry of Defence and Thales and will be performed in cooperation with TNO, the Netherlands' Organization for Applied Scientific Research. Prototype systems will be tested in 2005, with production units planned to go into service the following year. This latest success reinforces Thales position as the world's leading soldier systems company. Thales is already contributing to major soldier modernisation programmes for NATO countries: in the United Kingdom, in Germany and in Norway.

Press contacts
In France: Verena Adt - Tel : + 33 (0) 1 57 77 86 26
In The Netherlands: Claudia van Hall - Tel: +31 35 52 48 318