French military orders first sigint suite to work across all services

PARIS — France is to acquire its first joint tactical signals intelligence system from Thales and Airbus, the DGA procurement agency announced Feb. 8.

The €160 million (U.S. $193 million) contract was signed with the two companies Dec. 31, 2020, according to a DGA statement. Early capabilities of the new system will be delivered in 2023 and full capabilities by 2025.

The system will consist of a series of combinable sensors adapted to the needs of a given theater of operation and whatever environment — land, naval or air — in which it is to be operated.

Signals intelligence involves using an adversary’s signals — either communication (such as radio) or electronic (such as radar) — to gather data. “This information is necessary to safeguard the forces engaged, to determine the enemy’s intention and to be able to independently assess the situation. It contributes to the freedom of action of forces in a theater of operations,” the DGA said in a statement.

The French armed forces ’ current tactical sigint capabilities were developed to meet the specific needs of each service. The purpose of the joint system is to provide the three services with a homogeneous system, using as many common bricks as possible to guarantee operational continuity and joint use of the information collected.

The new system will modernize and complete the current tactical sigint capabilities, taking into consideration new communications technologies used by adversaries — whether these are detecting emissions, characterizing and localizing transmitters, or intercepting communications on different frequency ranges — according to the procurement agency.

In the Army, the new capability will be used by the 54th Signal Regiment on Scorpion vehicles. It will also equip the Navy’s capital ships and the Atlantic 2 maritime patrol aircraft, replacing and complementing the current systems. Members of the Air and Space Force will use the system as deployable ground equipment to protect air bases.

Christina Mackenzie was the France correspondent for Defense News.

巴黎——法国国防采购局 (DGA) 于 2 月 8 日宣布，法国将从泰雷兹和空客公司采购其首个联合战术信号情报系统。

根据德国国防军总局（DGA）的声明，这份价值1.6亿欧元（约合1.93亿美元）的合同于2020年12月31日与两家公司签署。新系统的早期功能将于2023年交付，全部功能将于2025年实现。

该系统将由一系列可组合的传感器组成，以适应特定作战区域的需求以及任何作战环境——陆地、海上或空中。

信号情报是指利用敌方信号——包括通信信号（例如无线电）或电子信号（例如雷达）——来收集数据。“这些信息对于保障参战部队的安全、确定敌方意图以及独立评估局势至关重要。它有助于保障作战区域内部队的行动自由，”法国国防情报局在一份声明中表示。

法国武装部队目前的战术信号情报能力是根据各军种的具体需求而开发的。联合系统的目的是为三军提供一个统一的系统，尽可能多地使用通用模块，以确保行动的连续性和所收集信息的联合使用。

据采购机构称，新系统将使当前的战术信号情报能力现代化并得到完善，同时考虑到对手使用的新通信技术——无论是探测发射、表征和定位发射器，还是拦截不同频率范围内的通信。

在陆军，第54通信团将在“蝎子”装甲车上使用这项新技术。海军的主力舰和“大西洋2”海上巡逻机也将配备该系统，以取代和补充现有系统。空军和太空军将使用该系统作为可部署的地面装备来保护空军基地。

克里斯蒂娜·麦肯齐是《防务新闻》的法国记者。