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The French Ministry of Defense (MoD)’s Aeronautical Maintenance Directorate (DMAé) has awarded Thales a ten-year contract under the VASSCO program to provide through-life support for the principal air surveillance components of the national air command and control system (SCCOA).
Thales’s main responsibilities include performance-based logistics support sustainment for SCCOA to meet the requirements of the French armed forces. This entails management and coordination of 15 companies and organizations involved in logistics support for SCCOA, including CS Group and the French MoD’s military aircraft maintenance service (SIAé).
The company will also provide a 360° picture of critical systems status and through-life support planning to meet the operational needs of the French forces.
SCCOA comprises more than 700 complex systems such as air defense radars, control centers, ground-air communications and information systems installed at 125 sites across mainland France and the overseas territories to detect and defeat air threats.
The air command and control system plays a key role in airspace protection, enabling the French forces to conduct their missions effectively in France and in overseas theaters of operations.
The VASSCO program is designed to meet current and future technological challenges and guarantee higher operational availability of the SCCOA system. It provides DMAé with three major innovations: a technical platform for unified logistics management; a 24/7 hotline for optimized logistics support; and data-driven logistics support through a unified information system for operational logistics management.
“We are delighted that the DMAé has renewed its confidence in Thales with this major award,” said Christophe Salomon, Executive Vice President Land & Air Systems, Thales. “We will assume the responsibilities of VASSCO program prime contractor for the next ten years and coordinate the entire ecosystem of government and industry partners and providers.
“VASSCO will guarantee higher performance of the components making up the French armed forces, which is a crucial part of France’s permanent air security presence.”
