France awards BOA demonstrator contract to Thales, Giat Industries and Sagem Défense Sécurité
09 December 2005
The French defence ministry on 8 December 2005 announced the award by the French defence procurement agency (Délégation Générale de l'Armement) of the concept design and demonstrator contract for the BOA1 cooperative fighting system to Thales, Giat Industries and Sagem Défense Sécurité, the members of a partnership formed for this programme.
Launched by the French defence minister at the international Eurosatory show in 2004, this advanced study programme will introduce new concepts of network-centric warfighting as a response to the close combat needs of the French Army over the coming decades. It combines the key assets in the air-land theatre - mounted and dismounted combat elements supported by unmanned ground and air vehicles - to increase the operational tempo, improve the effectiveness of units on the ground and provide them with better protection, and allow commanders to be in control in all situations.
The contract is valued at €129 million and includes work to be conducted over the next seven years in three interdependent areas:
- Establishment of the DGA's first integrated battlelab (LTO2), a collaborative development tool that will be used by the procurement agency, operational personnel and industry partners to analyse land forces missions, capitalise on feedback, define operational requirements on an ongoing basis and support design and modelling in a realistic synthetic environment to develop the architectures and force system that correspond to those requirements.
- A "system of systems" engineering study to identify advanced architectures and technologies for the French Army's future close combat system.
- Design and development of the TACTIC3 network-enabled architecture and technology demonstrator for close combat in the air-land theatre (infantry, armoured vehicles, unmanned vehicles, unattended or remotely deployed sensors, all networked by a communication and information system). The TACTIC demonstrator will be used for operational evaluation of the capability gains provided by the BOA concept (collective protection, situational awareness, indirect fire, etc.) under conditions representative of a joint regimental-level operation (GTIA4)
Opportunities are expected to be sought for cooperation between this major French programme and similar undertakings by other countries.
About the partnership agreement between Thales, Giat Industries and Sagem Défense Sécurité
Thales, Giat Industries and Sagem Défense Sécurité agreed in early 2004 to develop joint proposals for France's requirements on the BOA programme, and to jointly execute all related contracts. The agreement involved the formation of a partnership (Groupement Momentané d'Entreprises under French law) led by Thales.
When the programme is launched, the partners set up an integrated team of about thirty engineers based at a dedicated location to assume prime contracting roles in close liaison with the French Administration's project management and oversight bodies.
Thales, Giat Industries and Sagem Défense Sécurité will act as BOA programme facilitators for the contractor community, organising consultations and procurement plans to propose the best technologies available from research institutes, universities, small and medium-sized enterprises and major defence contractors. As part of this undertaking, a partnership agreement has been drawn up between Thales and Sagem Défense Sécurité, on the one hand, and EADS and MBDA on the other.
Press contacts:
Fabienne Issot-Sergent
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 30 48 20
Markus Leutert
Tel: +33 (0)1 57 77 87 26
About Giat Industries (www.giat-industries.fr)
Giat Industries' mission is to meet the requirements of the French Army as well as other armies worldwide. Giat has acquired unrivalled expertise in all the components of modern air-land systems: protection, command, mobility, fires, and support. Giat Industries generated revenues of 590 million euros in 2004 and allocates 20 % of sales invested in research and development. Giat Industries equipment and customer's services (MBTs, armoured vehicles, artillery systems, munitions, information terminal systems, product support and upgrades) is in service in over 100 countries.
Press contact:
Nelly Tartivel
External Communication Manager
Tel : +33 1 30 97 36 41
About Sagem Défense Sécurité (www.sagem-ds.com)
Sagem Défense Securité is one of the high-technology companies in Europe's SAFRAN Group. It is the worldwide leader in fingerprint biometrics. The company is also a major actor in smart cards and secure terminals, onboard information systems for aircraft, navigation and optronics. Through the SAFRAN Group, Sagem DS is present on all continents.
Press contact:
Jean-Charles Pignot
Director, Communication
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 70 63 54
1 BOA: Bulle Opérationnelle Aéroterrestre
2 LTO: Laboratoire Technico-Opérationnel
3 TACTIC: Technologies et Architectures du Combat aéroTerrestre Info-valorisé au Contact
4 GTIA: Groupement Tactique Inter Armes
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