• Forum
• SITREP
• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security

• Space

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Public Eye

Thales and Alcatel Space will build the French Navy's generation Satcom terminals

19 April 2002

Last February, the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) awarded Thales Communications and Alcatel Space a contract for naval satellite communications stations.

This contract worth around 80 million euros (Thales' share is around 66%) is to equip the two French Horizon frigates under construction and two French navy transport ships for search-and-rescue helicopters. The first firm batch represents more than 20 million euros. Further orders are planned until 2010 and will replace older generation terminals. This order from the DGA constitutes an important element for the ground terminals of the Syracuse III.

In terms of major innovation, the traffic capacity of the terminals will enable high data rate communications via X Band military satellites and C Band commercial satellites. Furthermore, operations will be extremely simple thanks to a frequency band selection entirely managed by computer. This means no manual intervention will be needed to switch from a commercial to a defence satellite.

This success consolidates Thales' position as a major player in the field of satellite ground segment defence communication systems. It also offers promising prospects for future propositions to naval forces in Europe and over the world.

To deliver this programme, Thales will collaborate with high-performance and innovative industrial partners such as Alcatel Space Industries for the antenna subsystem, Dateno for power amplifiers and ACC for the pedestal.

System designer, prime contractor and integrator, provider of value-added services, Thales Communications is the global architect of information and communication systems that fulfil the operational needs of air, land and naval forces. Present in 14 countries, Thales Communications achieves a turnover around 1.5 billion euros and employs 9000 persons in the world.

Press Contact:
Matt Pothecary
Tel : +33 (0) 1 53 77 86 26

Elsa Delacroix
Tel. 33 (0)1 41 30 35 82