Last week at IndoDefence, Thales introduced Watcher, a full radio remote control allowing communicating with every single Thales radio on the battlefield. Innovative and easy to use, Watcher helps armed forces improve their situation awareness while giving them the opportunity to communicate on the move.
This innovative and smart solution confirms Thales’s position as a full solution provider in the field of communication systems for the battlespace.
Today, armed forces are involved in a wide spectrum of operations, from humanitarian aid to high intensity conflicts. Tactical communication systems supporting these different missions are thus crucial for Forces which have become more and more mobile.
Carried like a wrist watch and very easy to use, Watcher avoids to stop for having access to the radio and enables any kind of communication on the move. This universal Man Machine Interface can connect to Thales’s tactical radios including the HF (Skyf@st), the VHF (PR4G and PR4G F@stnet), the St@rMille, FlexNet and at last the new F@stnet-Twin Software Defined Radio.
Compact, lightweight and ruggedized, this smart remote control device enables a wireless communication (Bluetooth) up to 10 meters or wire connection and makes easier the use of the radio and increases its operational features.
Being aware of the situation, taking the right decisions quickly, manoeuvring the forces preparing the adequate actions is essential for highly mobile missions. Watcher provides all the communication needs of the armed forces today, ensuring information dominance and real time situation awareness guaranteeing mobility at all levels in a seamless interoperability.
“Through the unique relationship Thales has with many armies, we are very sensitive on the importance of imagining innovative solutions to ease soldiers’ duty on the battlespace”, said Patrice Caine, Thales Vice-President in charge of Radio Communications activities. "With Watcher we provide something new that gives unsurpassed advantages on the battlefield, providing the highest level of communication availability. Watcher is the result of the unequalled experience in military radio-communications we have been developing for more than 70 years”.
Thales is a world leader in defence communications for land forces with experience spanning 70 years and more than 800,000 radio sets sold in 43 countries all over the world. Thales designs and integrates radio solutions for a broad range of platforms, including armoured vehicles, helicopters, dismounted infantry and special forces
- Thales wins contract to supply navigation aids systems to the Sultanate of Oman
Thales was recently awarded a contract by the Ministry of Transport & Communications of the Sultanate of Oman to supply, install and commission 10 ILS(1) /DME(2) systems and
6 DVOR(3) /DME systems to Muscat and Salalah international airports, as well as to 5 regional airports located in Sohar, Al Duqm, Adam, Ras Al Hadd and Haima.
The contract, which is already in force, will modernise Oman’s current navigation surveillance capabilities, contributing towards a considerable increase in flight safety. The recent air traffic growth in the Persian Gulf region has led to a crucial need for modernisation of the Sultanate of Oman’s transport infrastructure, along with Oman’s ambition to increase tourism.
Thales has supported Oman’s Ministry of Transport & Communications and Directorate General of Meteorology & Air Navigation (DGMAN) for more than 20 years, supplying reliable navigation aids as well as providing field services and operational support.
Olivier Badard, President, Thales Middle East and Western Asia, says: “This contract further increases our footprint in the region and is an acknowledgement of our capabilities and expertise in navigation surveillance systems. Oman’s Ministry of Transportation has chosen Thales’s latest generation equipment to replace its existing navigation aids, and enabling them to improve landing capability and increase flight safety.”
The new navigation systems will be deployed nationwide in 3 packages (A, B and C), themselves divided into 9 phases. Packages A and B and related phases, which will begin immediately, include delivery, installation and commissioning of 6 ILS and 2 DVOR systems for Muscat and Salalah International Airports. Package C will include delivery, installation and commissioning of 4 ILS and 4 DVOR navigation systems for Sohar, Al Duqm, Adam, Ras Al Hadd and Haima regional airports.
(2) The Distance Measuring Equipment system provides pilots with distance information between the aircraft and the location of the DME ground equipment. The system is used for both en-route and terminal area guidance.
(3) Thales’s Doppler-VOR VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range system is particularly well suited to operation under demanding conditions and terrain. The system utilises micro-processor control to provide unequalled accuracy and stability while providing the user with the highest levels of reliability and availability and therefore helping to guarantee safe en-route navigation.
Thales is a worldwide market leader in Air Traffic Management systems, civil radars and navigation aids. Thales offers an integrated gate-to-gate solution, from pre-flight to landing, ensuring airport safety, efficient traffic handling operations, data sharing on aircraft and seamless handover operations between territories. There are more than 260 EUROCAT centres, totalling some 4 000 controller positions in service throughout the world.
- Thales expands its Multipoint Offering... adds MPLS–awareness capability to its Layer 2 Ethernet Encryptor Family
Thales, leader in information systems and communications security, last week announced that its entire line of Datacryptor Ethernet Layer 2 network encryptors now have the capability to operate in multipoint meshed environments and support encrypted connections over end-to-end Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks. The hardware-based, stand-alone security platforms deliver full duplex point-to- point and fully-meshed multipoint encryption of sensitive data over Ethernet collision domains. The 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, and 10 Gbps models secure the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive and high-value data, voice, and video by protecting broadcast and multicast connections, addressing the market's need for high-speed security over wide area networks.
“The explosive growth in the volume of data used to carry out day-to-day business and the growing distributed operational environment are making organizations today more vulnerable than ever to data breaches that can have profound effects on their operation bottom-line and reputation. As a result, protecting the confidentiality and integrity of data where it is most vulnerable – in transit – has become paramount. Government and enterprise customers looking for a secure and cost-effective way of handling their data transport needs are turning to Ethernet Layer 2 encryption. Yielding minimum overhead and latency, the technology saves customers bandwidth cost and does not affect operational performance” says Franck Greverie, Thales Vice President in charge of information technology security activities. “Thales is dedicated to finding solutions to customer problems, and the introduction of a complete line of Layer 2 Ethernet encryptors addressing multipoint and MPLS applications offer unprecedented advantages allowing customers to better utilize their data transport infrastructure in a cost-effective and secure manner.”
Datacryptor recently received the Editor’s Choice Award from Military Embedded Systems for the security, compatibility and performance it provides commercial and government applications.
