The Ministry of the Armed Forces placed an order with Thales for new radars and an information system as part of a vast operation to modernize sky surveillance resources, the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) announced Thursday.
The total amount of the two announced contracts exceeds 350 million euros. They refer to the modernization of the means of the Command and Control System for Aerospace Operations (SCCOA). This “system of systems” makes it possible to monitor French airspace, coordinate ground-air defense and carry out air operations on national territory and during external operations, the DGA explains in a press release.
The first, called “Detection 22”, refers to the renewal from 2025 of a first part of the fleet of approach radars for air and naval bases that allow pilots to land with zero visibility, the purchase of a low-altitude surveillance for the Linès-Bégo shooting complex (Morbihan) as well as the acquisition of four Ground Master 200 (GM200) radars.
This equipment, of which France announced on Tuesday the donation of a copy to Ukraine, is a medium-range radar capable of detecting an enemy plane at 250 kilometers and fighting it at 100 km, whether it flies at low speed and low altitude like the drones. , or at high altitudes like combat planes. The contract, worth 212.8 million euros, also contemplates the subsequent renewal of the TRAC 2400 long-range radars.
A new information system is expected in 2026
The other contract, worth 139.8 million euros, refers to the order for a new air operations command and control system, the ACCS. This information system should be implemented in 2026 at the Lyon Mont-Verdun base, the nerve center of French air defense from where air operations are coordinated.
The modernization of airspace surveillance systems was the subject of a 10-year contract of 1,500 million euros last year with Thales for the maintenance of the 700 different systems that make up the SCCOA.
Source: BFM TV
