Airbus wins $500 million contract to upgrade French Navy comms

PARIS — Airbus Defence and Space, together with Naval Group, won a contract worth as much as €480 million (US$504 million) to upgrade the communications system of the French Navy to prepare for collaborative and networked combat.

Airbus is leading an industrial consortium that will equip more than 80 vessels of the French naval forces with the RIFAN 3 network, including the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, amphibious helicopter carriers, frigates and submarines, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The system will be deployed on ships between 2028 and 2032, according to Airbus.

The third stage of the RIFAN network aims to boost connectivity between ships, equipping frontline vessels with high-speed and low-latency systems that will allow for collaborative combat, according to Airbus. The network will also feature enhanced security to deal with increased cyber threats, the company said.

“With RIFAN 3, we are preparing for the next stage, that of collaborative naval combat, networked combat of all assets and platforms involved in naval operations,” said Eric Even, the head of space digital at Airbus Defence and Space.

The French Navy currently operates the RIFAN 2 network, which was commissioned between 2012 and 2016, enabling vessels to communicate on an IP network with a “very high level” of security, and exchange data with various levels of confidentiality. RIFAN stands for Réseau IP de la Force Aéronavale, or IP network of the aeronaval force.

The upgraded network will be made more resilient with mechanisms allowing for “rapid configuration” to adapt available means of communication in different tactical and operational scenarios, according to Airbus.

One of the features of the war in Ukraine has been extensive use of electronic warfare to jam communications, and the French Navy’s carrier strike group typically trains for degraded conditions including loss of satellite communications during every deployment.

The contract with the French Navy has a maximum duration of 10 years, covering development of the RIFAN upgrades between 2026 and 2030, as well as deployment and operational maintenance, Airbus said.

Airbus has previously said RIFAN 3 includes high-speed, line-of-sight communications, a unified IP telephony system, enhanced cybersecurity and resource optimization. Several French companies, including Safran and Cailabs, are working on secure line-of-sight laser communications that could be used for ship-to-ship data transfers.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——空中客车防务与航天公司与法国海军集团共同赢得了一份价值高达 4.8 亿欧元（5.04 亿美元）的合同，将升级法国海军的通信系统，为协同和网络化作战做好准备。

空客公司周二在一份声明中表示，该公司正牵头一个工业联盟，为法国海军80多艘舰艇配备RIFAN 3网络系统，其中包括“戴高乐”号航空母舰、两栖直升机航母、护卫舰和潜艇。空客公司称，该系统将于2028年至2032年间陆续部署到舰艇上。

据空客公司称，RIFAN网络的第三阶段旨在提升舰船间的互联互通，为一线舰艇配备高速低延迟系统，从而实现协同作战。该公司还表示，该网络还将增强安全性，以应对日益严峻的网络威胁。

“借助 RIFAN 3，我们正在为下一阶段做准备，即协同海上作战，即参与海上行动的所有资产和平台的网络化作战，”空中客车防务与航天公司空间数字化负责人埃里克·埃文表示。

法国海军目前运行着RIFAN 2网络，该网络于2012年至2016年间投入使用，使舰艇能够在安全性“极高”的IP网络上进行通信，并以不同保密级别交换数据。RIFAN是Réseau IP de la Force Aéronavale的缩写，意为“海军航空兵IP网络”。

空客公司表示，升级后的网络将更具弹性，其机制允许“快速配置”，以便在不同的战术和作战场景中调整可用的通信方式。

乌克兰战争的一个特点是广泛使用电子战来干扰通信，法国海军航母打击群通常会在每次部署期间进行应对通信条件恶化（包括卫星通信中断）的训练。

空客公司表示，与法国海军签订的合同最长期限为 10 年，涵盖 2026 年至 2030 年间 RIFAN 升级的开发，以及部署和运行维护。

空客此前曾表示，RIFAN 3系统包含高速视距通信、统一的IP电话系统、增强的网络安全和资源优化功能。包括赛峰集团和凯莱布斯在内的多家法国公司正在研发可用于舰船间数据传输的安全视距激光通信技术。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。