Thales to extend French full-IP theatre network

Thales will carry out work to extend the full-IP network that supports convergence between French armed forces’ theatre networks to the entire Syracuse military SATCOM ground segment under a new agreement with the French defence procurement agency (DGA).

The Syracuse system currently provides secure, interoperable services to information system users in the theatre and at all levels in the French armed forces chain of command, supporting several frequency bands, notably X band, Ku band and EHF.

This agreement will see Thales perform work to give the French armed forces a fast, secure, full-IP, multiband unified theatre network capability, operating in the X, EHF, Ku and Ka bands.

According to the company, this network will guarantee users uninterrupted, flexible and complementary services, and will afford ‘unprecedented’ end-to-end quality of service, encompassing tactical networks down to the lowest theatre levels, such as Venus and Astride. The network supports X- and Ka-band services for future SATCOM on-the-move platforms—including land vehicles, ships, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)— through Thales’s proven SYSTEM 21 satellite transmission system, designed for mobility and compatible with the STANAG 4606 standard adopted by NATO.

Thales said this approach accommodates the latest developments from Thales in France and export markets in areas such as secure, NATO-standard modem systems, management, operating and supervision systems, and IP networks. It will also make it possible to optimise human resources for deployments, operations and logistic support. This unified, full-IP, multi-service, multi-band network is fully in line with future joint forces theatre communications projects and with the COMSAT NG system set to succeed Syracuse.