13 Mar 02. Thales Raytheon Systems has received a contract worth about $99m(€110m), from the French defence procurement agency (DGA) to produce the first version of the mobile command and control center (C3M), which is the deployable component of France’s Air Command and Control System.The procurement agency’s aeronautical systems department (SPAe) selected Thales Raytheon Systems to design, develop and implement this contract following a competitive definition study period.
Under this new contract, the existing system will be completely renovated to strengthen the French Air Force’s air command and control capability in external theaters of operations where allied forces may be required to conduct joint air operations. The objective for C3M is to achieve a high level of interoperability and to enable France to assume the role of “framework nation” in future multinational engagements.Thales Raytheon Systems is an equally owned Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN – news) and Thales (Paris: TCFP.PA and London: THS) transatlantic joint venture encompassing air defence/command and control centres and ground-based air surveillance and weapons locating radars.
The enterprise, which began operations in June 2001, has operating subsidiaries in Fullerton, Calif., and in the greater Paris metropolitan area. It has about 1,300 employees worldwide and predicted sales for 2001 of €650m/$600m.