The French Ministry of Defence (Ministre des Armées) renewed its confidence in Thales by selecting the Group as prime contractor for the development and deployment of the ground segment for the Syracuse IV system capacity expansion. Thales will build on its extensive experience in military satellite systems integration in Europe and the Middle East to supply the end-to-end management system required for full interoperability, as well as nearly 200 ground terminals. Thales has been chosen by the French defense procurement agency (DGA) to lead a second part of the ground segment of the Syracuse IV satellite communications system for the French armed forces. Thales will leverage its high-level systems integration expertise, and in particular its highly secure Modem 21 transmission system, to guarantee the availability and confidentiality of all communications and provide protection from the full spectrum of threats with no impact on operational performance.
All the ground terminals in the system will be able to make optimum use of the Syracuse IV constellation. Their full interconnection via new docking terminals will allow considerable increase in data rate by ensuring joint cooperation in theatres of operations and with command centres. This crucial program milestone will enhance the performance of the ground segment across all theatres of operation for the three branches of the French military. The Thales solution will decisive in meeting the capacity requirements of land, naval and air force programmes such as Scorpion, FREMM, FDI, Barracuda, aircraft carrier, or Rafale. It aims to increase tenfold the secure communication capabilities of fighting vehicles on the move, surface vessels, submarines, and now also aircrafts. The Thales technology guarantees roaming communications in both X- and Ka-band and fully exploits the multi-spot potential of High Throughput Satellite (HTS) technology.
Syracuse (French: Système de radiocommunication utilisant un satellite, satellite based radiocommunication system) is a series of French military communications satellites. Syracuse is intended to ensure the French military can communicate between mainland France and military units deployed around the world. The satellite participates in command, reassignment and logistic aspects of operations. The system is nominally under the command of the French Navy, equipping a total of 54 ships (2009) and it is complemented by the Telcomarsat commercial system of communications. It was announced in July 2019 that the next generation of Syracuse satellites, Syracuse-4. The satellites of the following generations (Syracuse-5) will be equipped with defensive weapons. Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, officially signed on 3 September 2019 the decree creating the Space Command (Commandement de l’espace – CDE) within the Air Force, which should eventually become the “Air and Space Army”.
