Thales, Airbus receive French defence contract
Thales and Airbus Defence and Space have received the GeoMaps contract to supply digital geographic data for the French Ministry of Defence’s mapping database, Thales announced on 5 April. The contract was awarded by IGN on behalf of the DGA.
The data will be supplied on a range of scales and will be based on images received by the two Pléiades satellites with the aim of making geometry and formatting of all reference mapping data consistent to optimise interoperability between the ministry's various services and systems, as well as with their partners and allies.
GeoMaps will supersede the TopoBase Défense system as one of the main building blocks of the GEODE 4D programme - the four-dimensional defence data (geographical, hydrographic, oceanographic and meteorological) - which integrates all the systems required to keep the French armed forces sufficiently informed of the nature and characteristics of the theatre concerned. In the future, the GeoMaps data will be managed by the GEODE 4D programme and disseminated to all the defence systems and in all theatres of operations.
Bernhard Brenner, head, intelligence business cluster, Airbus Defence and Space, said: ‘The accuracy of the data we provide is vital if the operations which French armed forces are involved in and the fight against terrorism in particular will succeed.’
The contract will run until 2021.
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