Military

Thales awarded new modernisation contract by the Brazilian Air Force

13 February 2007

Under the terms of this new contract, Thales will provide the Brazilian Air Force with 17solid-state S Band transceivers and 9 solid-state L Band transceivers. These turnkey contracts for a total amount of € 60.253 million and an overall 5-year elongation correspond to the third phase of the modernisation programme undertaken by the Brazilian Air Force in 2001.

The Brazilian Air Force says: "This new and last modernisation phase of 26 of our air traffic control radars will enable our services to benefit from leading-edge technology while preserving service continuity."

Rémi Gille, Managing Director - Customer Service Thales Air Systems comments: "We are delighted to be able to pursue our long-term relationship with the Brazilian Air Force through an ambitious programme that will see the addition of a new product to Thales's offering."

Thanks to Thales's participation in Omnisys, a Brazil-based company, the new L band transmitter will be manufactured in Brazil. Fully integrated Thales's and Omnisys' teams will jointly lead the development. This programme demonstrates Thales's ability to sustain longterm relationships with its customers and to tie close links with the economies of the countries in which it operates.

About Thales
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, serving defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide, supported by a comprehensive services offering. The group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. Leveraging a global network of high-level researchers, Thales offers a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy critical information systems. Thales employs 60,000 people in 50 countries and generated revenues of € 10.3 billion in 2005, with a record order book of over € 20 billion.

About Omnisys
Omnisys is a company with outstanding performance in the development of high technology solutions, projecting, developing and supplying equipments and services for civil, military and space applications. In the air traffic control area, Omnisys accomplishes the installation activities of the new equipments supplied by Thales to the modernization program of Brazilian radars. In the space area, Omnisys is the largest supplier of embedded equipments and systems for the CBERS (China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite) satellite program. Omnisys is also responsible for the modernization program of tracking radars and telemetry stations of the Brazilian launching centers. To these centers, Omnisys is supplying a telemetry station, an optical tracking system and an electromagnetic spectrum surveillance station. In the navy area, Omnisys develops and supply electronic warfare equipments (ECM and ESM) to the Brazilian warships. In the meteorological area, Omnisys develops and manufactures simulators and S band meteorological radars. Omnisys is a company that presents an extraordinary growth tax. Its revenue increased from R$ 4,5 million, in 2001, to R$ 28 million, at the end of 2006. In that same period, the number of employees increased from 30 to 200.