From left to right: Jean-Yves Le Drian, French minister of defense; Pascale Sourisse, SEVP international development for Thales; Major General Hamad Bin Ali Al Attiyah, Qatar minister of state for defense affairs; Eng. Abdulaziz Falah Al-Dosari assistant for technology to the minister of state for defense affairs. Photo: Thales

[Via Satellite 10-20-2014] The Qatari Armed Forces have selected Thales to supply a military satellite communications (satcom) system following a yearlong bid-process. The company will provide a Network Operations Center (NOC) and the systems needed for transmitting communications and processing data on the ground.

Thales plans to use its System 21 technology for secure, high-data-rate transmissions. The military satcom network will be interoperable with existing military radio communications the Qatar Armed Forces currently employs, including fixed networks and combat radios. The Qatari Armed Forces will operate the NOC once completed, which will provide long-range communications for ground and naval forces.