Thales wins prime contract for Frances next-generation SIGINT vessel and MINREM payload
Thales won the contract following a hard-fought competition. The new SIGINT vessel, due to enter service in 2005, will perform electronic intelligence missions in all waters. During crises and wars, she will gather and produce intelligence to help France's military authorities assess fast-evolving situations and issue warnings.
To ensure the programme's success, Thales has set up an integrated prime contracting team drawn from its French companies:
- Thales Naval France will act as overall prime contractor, taking responsibility for project management, prime contractor-level engineering, functional integration, and acceptance testing both at the factory and during sea trials.
- Thales Communications will act as prime contractor for the MINREM payload, taking responsibility for all electronic systems (COMINT and ELINT), IT systems for intelligence, and internal and external communications.
- Thales Systèmes Aéroportés will supply the ELINT system to intercept and process electromagnetic signals.
The contract includes five years' maintenance and operational support that will ensure vessel availability meeting or exceeding 350 days per year