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Thales wins French C-130 upgrade contract

28 January 2008

Neuilly-sur-Seine, 28 January 2008 – Thales and Sabena Technics have won the contract to design, develop and deliver high performance avionics solutions for the renovation of C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft in service with the French Air Force.

The contract notified by the French defence procurement agency (Délégation Générale pour l'Armement) is worth over 40M euros and covers the renovation of the avionics for the entire French Air Force fleet of fourteen C-130H aircraft.

Changes in French Air Force deployment concepts and International Civil Aviation Organisation regulations have led to the requirement to upgrade C-130 avionics to ensure continued optimal use of the aircraft's capabilities and its continued compliance. This comprehensive upgrade of C-130 avionics also includes standardisation of system ergonomics and necessary enhancements to allow unlimited use of European and international airspace from 2010.

Under this contract, Thales and Sabena Technics will design, develop and integrate a new avionics architecture on a prototype aircraft, which will be installed after qualification, on the rest of the French Air Force C-130 fleet by Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique (AIA).

The two companies will transfer the necessary knowledge and expertise and will supply the C-130 upgrade kits to AIA in readiness for series installation. Once the industrial installation phase is complete, Thales will provide through-life support for the new avionics suite to 2013.

This prestigious contract strengthens Thales's leadership as aircraft upgrade solution providers to the French Ministry of Defence and serves as an effective springboard to the global market of more than 200 C-130 Hercules transport aircraft that will require avionics upgrades in the next few years.

About Thales
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales's leading-edge technology is 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.

Press Contact:
Natasha Harvey
+ 33 1 34 81 40 50
natasha.Harvey@fr.thalesgroup.com