A contract was signed between The French defence procurement agency (DGA) and Thales on the design of deployable and high-speed communication networks. The ASTRIDE 3 contract, which DGA has agreed with Thales, aims to offer a fast, mobile and secure command infrastructure. ASTRIDE 3, which can be deployed quickly and complies with NATO standards, is expected to provide France with leading coalition forces to command and provide effective capabilities to the French armed forces. Under the contract, Thales will deliver more than 200 modular mobile stations in the third phase of the ASTRIDE 3 contract.

ASTRIDE 3’s new connectivity includes latest generation satellite terminals (SYRACUSE IV), high-capacity line-of-sight (HCLOS) communications, tactical software-defined radios (CONTACT) and digital wireless services (LTE technology). It is expected to meet all these requirements by integrating its systems. In addition, ASTRIDE 3 will also offer defence cloud capability to support a broader computer network defense (CND) initiative to meet the needs of collaborative command structures and tackle cyber threats.

ASTRIDE 3 stations will meet the latest Federated Mission Network (FMN) interoperability standards and enable France to act as the lead country for Land Component Command (LCC).

Integrated, automated ASTRIDE 3 stations will speed up and simplify maneuvers on the theater. It will allow forces to deploy different versions of the station to adapt to an extremely wide range of tactical situations pre-integrated into durable containers, shelters (carrying cases) or armored vehicles in the SCORPION ecosystem. Wireless connections will shorten command center deployment times by significantly reducing the number of manual operations required.

Marc Darmon, Thales Executive Vice President said: ‘’ Thales is once again proud to support French ground forces in their digital transformation by providing a high-speed, mobile and secure command infrastructure that can be used in a wide variety of tactical situations. The third phase of the ASTRIDE program is a step towards collaborative combat, connectivity and putting the ground forces combat cloud at the center of high-intensity warfare.’’