Thales signs military vehicle communications contract

Thales has signed a contract with the Defence Materiel Organisation of Australia to provide the SOTAS IP vehicle communications system to the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The SOTAS IP communications harness provides vehicle intercom, Ethernet Local Area Network and IP routing services, and allows further integration of VoIP services, Battle Management System, vetronics services, inter-platform communications, wireless LAN services, video on demand and mounted soldier systems into one rugged, reliable system. A highly flexible and scalable system, SOTAS IP offers greater capability than competing technologies, with fewer components, and can be configured for all types of vehicles and requirements from small voice intercom to complete multimedia command post network. The new contract highlights the benefits of Thales's access to world-leading technology. SOTAS is a third generation system developed by Thales in the Netherlands. The SOTAS system has been installed in over 50 vehicle types in more than 30 countries, including Thales Bushmaster vehicles supplied to the Netherlands. n Australia, Thales will supply over 700 complete systems, plus spares, to be installed in the ADF's Bushmasters. Installation is scheduled to begin in July, with in-service vehicles retrofitted at Thales's Vehicle Support Centre in Brisbane, and potentially at ADF bases around the country. In the future, the system will be installed during Bushmaster production at the Thales Bendigo facility. Ian Irving, Vice President of Thales Australia's Land & Joint Systems, said the contract marked an important step in the evolution of network centric warfare. "This contract demonstrates the adaptability of the Bushmaster and its ongoing value as a platform for multiple new and evolving capabilities", he added.