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Thales Australia FFG Upgrade on Track

15 June 2007

Thales Australia's guided missile frigate (FFG) Upgrade Project continues to make progress, with the third frigate leaving dry dock ahead of schedule at the company's Garden Island facility on 8 June.

The docking phase of HMAS DARWIN's upgrade installation was completed on Friday 08 June 2007 as planned thanks to efficiency gains achieved since Thales Australia completed similar installations on sister ships HMAS SYDNEY and HMAS MELBOURNE.

Back in the water, DARWIN will be berthed at Garden Island for the remaining platform modifications and combat system software installation. DARWIN is programmed to commence harbour trials later this year and hand back to the Royal Australian Navy is anticipated early in 2008.

Norman Gray, Managing Director Thales Australia said "Thales continues to demonstrate its commitment to the project schedule and achieving this milestone early sends a clear message that the project is on track."

"This undocking, and the return to sea of MELBOURNE this week for the final phase of sea acceptance trials prior to return to the Navy, continues to validate the plan for the FFG Upgrade Project", said Mr Gray

A further encouraging sign for the program is the current upgrade of the Australian Distributed Architecture Combat System (ADACS) software on the first ship, SYDNEY, to support the first of class firing of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) from the installed Vertical Launch System later this year.

About Thales

Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales's leading-edge technology supported by 22 000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical information systems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. The group builds its growth on its unique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with national customers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to support local technology and industrial development. Thales employs 68,000 people in 50 countries with forecast 2007 revenues in excess of € 12 billion.