Thales Selected for ELINT Upgrade on France’s Transall Gabriel Aircraft

NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, France --- Thales has been selected by the French defence procurement agency (DGA), part of the French Ministry of Defence, to upgrade the ELINT (electronic intelligence) system on Frances Transall C-160G Gabriel intelligence aircraft.>> This decision builds on the guidelines underpinning French defence and security policy, in particular the fundamental principle of maintaining an effective and independent intelligence gathering capability.>> The system provided by Thales allows the interception, analysis, decoding, recording and processing of Signal Intelligence (SIGINT). From 2011, the Transall Gabriels optimized system will meet the technical requirements arising from the need to protect naval and air combat platforms against current and future threats.>> Thales won this contract against a backdrop of budget constraints. Decisive factors were the companys world-class expertise in complex airborne systems and its ability to coordinate an extensive team of industry contributors, including smaller specialist firms.>>> Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thaless leading-edge technology is supported by 22 000 R&D engineers> who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical information systems. To this end, the groups civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. Thales employs 68,000 people in 50 countries with forecast 2007 revenues of EUR 12.3 billion.