August 18, 2024 | International, Aerospace
June 12, 2018 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Tiger helos upgrade will replace verbal orders with digital ones
VERSAILLES, France ― Information technology firm Atos is in talks with Airbus Helicopters about installing its SICS battle management system on the Tiger Mk 3 attack helicopter, said Sylvain Gonnet, Atos project director.
Atos developing the Scorpion Information Communication System, which will equip the French Army with the Bull battle management system intended to give a tactical overview, linking up platoon leaders to colonels.
Atos expects to sign a contract with Airbus Helicopters this summer for a 12-month study to de-risk an installation of the Bull system on the Tiger. That study will help draw up a road map for equipping the attack helicopter with the system.
Track our full coverage of Eurosatory here!
SICS is designed to provide situation awareness, blue-force tracking and allow orders to be given by on-screen graphics rather than verbal orders, he said.
Fitting SICS will be part of a midlife upgrade of the Tiger to the Mk 3 version.
Belgium is closely tracking the SICS program. Officials there have signed a letter of intent on a €1.1 billion (U.S. $1.3 billion) acquisition of Griffon troop carriers and Jaguar reconnaissance and combat vehicles, which will be equipped with the battle management system.
Atos signed in October 2016 a contract with an export client for its system. No further details were available.
There is strong interest in battle management systems, with Britain and Germany looking to upgrade capabilities. Bull pitched its system to the U.K., which is looking to upgrade with the Morpheus tactical information and communication system.
Other competitors in the market include Elbit Systems, Rheinmetall, Nexter and Danish company Systematic.
Atos gave its presentation to the press May 16 ahead of the Eurosatory trade show, which runs June 11-15.
The Tiger Mk 3 will be a midlife upgrade of the helicopter, which will be undertaken in cooperation with Germany. That modernization includes a new air-to-ground missile as well as linking up the helicopter more closely to the ground troops through the SICS.
On the same subject
-
-
December 20, 2023 | International, Land
Czech Republic wants to piggyback on German Leopard 2A8 tank buy
A joint order with Berlin should yield better conditions, like prices and delivery schedule, according to the Czech defense minister.
-
September 13, 2018 | International, Naval
French Naval Group and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp square off in Egyptian warship deal
By: Pierre Tran PARIS – Naval Group finds itself in direct competition with German rival ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in Egypt's acquisition of two more corvettes, Hervé Guillou, CEO of the French shipbuilder told Defense News. The contest comes after Egypt in 2014 placed an order for four Naval Group Gowind corvettes worth some €1 billion, with options for two more units. Winning that two-year option has since become anything but certain for the French company. “TKMS is not sitting on its hands,” Guillou said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Summer Defense University event at the military staff college here. There already is a “permanent presence of the Germans” in Egypt, which operates a fleet of German submarines, Guillou explained. Egypt attracts strong international interest, with the Chinese, Koreans, Dutch shipbuilder Damen and French electronics company Thales very active, he added. The TKMS offer consists of two Meko 200 corvettes, worth €1 billion (US $1.2 billion) excluding weapons, business publication La Tribune reported Sept. 3. That is double the value of the two Gowind 2500 corvettes pitched by Naval Group, the report said. A spokesman for Naval Group declined to comment on the prices. If TKMS were to snatch the business in the end, the French interministerial committee overseeing arms export likely would approve a sale of MBDA-made Aster 15 missiles for the German ships, a French government official said. The company, a joint venture by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, is pursuing a “platform neutral” sales pitch, placing an emphasis on boosting foreign sales, according to an industry source. Guillou said he attended Egypt's launch on Sept. 6 of the first locally built Gowind, christened Port Said. “It all went well,” he said. The Egyptian Navy sails a FREMM multimission frigate and two Mistral-class helicopter carriers. The four Gowind corvettes will complement that fleet. The day before the Egyptian launch, Guillou was in Poland pitching three Scorpene diesel-electric submarines to the Polish authorities. “There is political support at the highest level,” he said, referring to the French government backing. That offer competes with TKMS offering its 212CD and Saab the A26 boat. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/09/12/french-naval-group-and-germanys-thyssenkrupp-square-off-in-egyptian-warship-deal