Thales to Equip Leopard 2 Tanks of a Middle East Country

As part of the modernization of its Land Forces, a Middle East country has procured vehicles for its new brigade from German Land Defense systems provider Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW). Thales has been selected to equip them with a mobile command system.

Thales will thus help the country to modernize and digitize its Armed Forces with mission systems for 62 Leopard 2 tanks, 24 PzH 2000 artillery howitzers and associated support vehicles, all supplied by German group Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. These new vehicles will make up the first artillery and cavalry battalions of this new brigade.

Increasingly info-centric military operations rely on getting ever larger volumes of tactical information to networked mobile units. The effectiveness of joint forces combat thus depends on C4I1 (Computerized, Command, Control, Communications) systems with the ability to ensure complete control of the critical decision chain.

With its end-to-end expertise as a premier provider of C4I systems, Thales will supply a complete integrated mission system including:

• PR4G VHF and TRC 3700 HF radios;
• SOTAS systems for handling inter-vehicle and in-vehicle communications;
• Command and Control (C2) or Battlefield Management System applications

This fleet-wide system will support exchange of tactical and command information between vehicles in near real-time to synchronies maneuvers, conduct joint actions or boost platforms’ operational capability by helping operators execute their missions.

“This contract consolidates Thales’ position as a leading integrator of advanced vehicle systems. The longstanding collaboration between Thales and KMW will enable optimal integration of the components of the Thales solution on this new Brigade platform” said Marc Darmon, Executive Vice President for Secure Communications & Information Systems within Thales.

Telecommunications and networking of Armed Forces are central to tomorrow’s weapon systems and the digital battlespace. Thales provides all branches of the armed forces with a complete range of value-added equipment, systems and services, fully integrated into land, air and naval platforms to meet new demand for interoperability, C4ISTAR (computerized command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance), secure communications, information systems and other critical capabilities.

From sensor to decision makers, Thales’ interoperable and scalable solutions cover all elements of the critical decision chain and enable the leading of both joint and coalition operations. By delivering the right effect at the right time, Thales’ solutions help deployed forces maintain decision superiority under all circumstances.

The Group benefits from the experience acquired from other major vehicle integration programs such as the PRV in Luxembourg and the AV8 in Malaysia.