Brazilian Army Vehicles To Be Equipped With Thales' Sotas Intercomm System

The Brazilian Army has selected Thales’ Sotas communication systems for its various vehicle programmes, including the new Guarani vehicle, the Cascavel, the M113 and the Urutu refurbishment programmes.

The systems will be delivered in June 2014. A transfer of maintenance to the end-user is part of the contract.

A first batch of Sotas systems was purchased in 2011 to be tested in various armoured vehicles. Division General Antonino dos Santos Guerra Neto, the Brazilian Army's Commander of Communications and Electronic Warfare - CCOMGEX, stated that the Sotas system has been tested in a range of operational situations and has met CCOMGEX's  stringent requirements in every respect. Sotas was selected thanks to its superior performance, its modularity that enables easy upgrades, its world-wide references and its ease of operation.

Sotas is the centre of all voice and data communications in the Guarani, integrating various sensors, data terminals and radios. The Guarani programme has a potential of more than 2,000 vehicles.

“With the lion’s share of the region’s defence spending, Brazil is building one of the most advanced military apparatus in the world and their renewed confidence in Thales is proof that whenever critical Defence decisions are made, we are the partner of choice. Sotas is one of the most advanced communication solutions for the digitisation of the battlespace and will enable Brazilian Forces to dramatically increase situational awareness at all levels of the command structure,” said Hervé Derrey, Vice-President of Thales’s Radio Communication Products Business.