Thales wins UK target locator system competition
15 February 2008
Defence Secretary Des Browne has today announced that Thales UK has been awarded a £30m contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply the latest version of its Joint-Target Acquisition System (J-TAS) to meet the MoD's Surveillance System and Range Finding (SSARF) requirement. He made the announcement during a visit to the company's Glasgow facility, where the equipment will be built.
The contract, for more than 700 J-TAS systems, follows an international competition and extensive field trials. The equipment will provide troops in the field with an ultra lightweight, compact, multi-role, night vision target locator capability. The new J-TAS equipment is expected to enter service in 2009.
The J-TAS equipment, which is the size of a large pair of binoculars and used in a similar way, combines daylight and thermal vision with eye-safe laser range finding, embedded military GPS and azimuth angular referencing. Overall, J-TAS provides the user with an integrated target locator for general surveillance as well as accurate target location for both mortar and artillery fire control. This will enable the soldiers to see at night, provide accurate target location out to 5km and provide general day and night surveillance capabilities.
The culmination of two years investment and development by Thales UK, the innovative design of J-TAS includes intuitive control features to simplify and speed up the targeting task. The compact hand held system fully exploits the advantages of un-cooled thermal imaging technology and low power optimisation to give a dramatic reduction in whole life costs. These features ensure that all users including artillery observers and mortar fire controllers are best equipped to operate effectively on today's complex battlefield.
J-TAS is the latest addition to Thales' world-leading range of infrared cameras and extends the company's work with the MoD that started here in Scotland back in 1888. The J-TAS solution for SSARF bears testimony to the company's widely acclaimed ability to identify and satisfy the demanding market need for innovative and cost-effective military vision and target location systems. UK forces will benefit from this clear focus on high performance and whole life affordability.
Alex Dorrian, Chief Executive Officer of Thales UK, says: "Throughout the evolution of J-TAS we paid close attention to the military utility of the product. Our troops in the field consistently ask for an ultra-lightweight, high-performance package: J-TAS delivers this. We are extremely proud to have been selected for the SSARF requirement, J-TAS is truly a world-beater and we look forward to offering the product to our customers worldwide."
The Secretary of State was given a tour of the Thales site and a briefing on the various optronics products being developed for the UK armed forces. With 530 employees, anticipated to grow to around 580 later this year, the facility is also supplying the Royal Navy's new Astute-class submarines with advanced optronic masts that replace the traditional periscope, and a thermal imaging system (know as BGTI - Battle Group Thermal Imaging), which is installed on the British Army's Warrior and Scimitar armoured vehicles.
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About Thales
Thales UK is a major electronics and systems group serving defence, aerospace, security and services markets. Thales employs 9,000 staff in the UK, based at more than 50 locations. In 2006 Thales UK's revenues were over £1 bn.
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales' 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 2007 revenues in excess of £8.3 billion.
Press contacts:
Thales UK
Kathryn Bell
Tel: +44 (0)1932 824832
Mob: +44 (0)7813 903274
kathryn.bell@thalesgroup.com
Thales Land & Joint Systems UK
Paul Mottershead
Mob: +44 (0)7711 039095
paul.mottershead@uk.thalesgroup.com
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