Thales has been contracted to supply 30 dual-band X/Ka ground-based satellite communication stations to the French Army.
The new Syracuse IV satcom station will be installed on the Serval light multi-role armored vehicles being developed for the Scorpion program.
It will be an on-the-pause tactical communication node for high-throughput satellite communications services.
Jam-Proof
The system offers joint communications capability to the army, featuring “secure, high-data-rate satcom services with robust protection from jamming, interference, cyberattacks and other threats to guarantee end-to-end connectivity and tri-service interoperability,” Thales explained.
The two satellites for the Syracuse IV defense communications systems are the Syracuse 4A and Syracuse 4B, jointly built by Thales Alenia Space (a consortium of Thales and Leonardo) and Airbus Defence and Space.
$87M Contract
The 80-million-euro ($87 million) contract follows an earlier agreement to deploy satcom stations on French Navy surface vessels and submarines.
Before that, a production and development contract for the Mercure on-the-move stations was awarded for the French Army’s Griffon and Serval vehicles and airborne stations for the French Air Force’s wide-body aircraft.