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Thales to equip French armed forces with night vision cameras

28 January 2005

The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has awarded Thales a contract to equip the French Army, Air Force and Navy with Sophie night vision cameras. This contract is for for the production of over 600 new-generation cameras, which offer 25% greater range compared with the previous version, as well as built-in image stabilisation.

The extended Sophie product line meets the full range of observation, surveillance, target detection, target designation and fire control requirements in line with user's needs.

Commenting on this latest contract award, Pierre-Yves Chaltiel, Vice President, Director France of Thales' Land & Joint Systems Division said: "The French forces already operate 1,000 Sophie cameras and have again expressed their confidence in this family of equipment. With inherent commonality across the product range, customers can quickly get to grips with the equipment, common accessories and maintenance protocols."

Thales has sold over 6,000 Sophie infrared cameras in 45 countries for surveillance, combat and peacekeeping missions. Sophie cameras operate in the thermal infrared spectrum, making them undetectable and enabling day and night observation of camouflaged targets in all weather conditions. Sophie is perfectly suited to the needs of infantry soldiers and enables tank recognition at ranges of over 3 km. The band used makes Sophie immune to fire, smoke, fog and reflected sunlight. These characteristics make it ideal for battlefield conditions and peacekeeping and security missions.

Additional new products of the Sophie family also include a multi-function version, which is already available. Incorporating a GPS, an eye-safe laser rangefinder, direction finder and laser pointer, the multi-function version is a complete system for target acquisition, location and designation for the Armies, Air Forces, Navies, and special forces.

About Thales
Thales is an international electronics and systems group serving defence, aerospace, security and services markets. The Group employs 61,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of 10.6 billion euros in 2003.

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