Thales Will Provide High-Tech Systems for French Navy's New Frigate Program

Thales is working alongside DCNS to provide a number of advanced systems for the French navy’s FTI (Frégate de Taille Intermédiaire), a medium-size frigate program recently announced by the French Defense Ministry. The FTI is intended as a replacement for the fleet’s Lafayette-class frigates beginning in 2023.

Thales will supply a compact, modular version of the CAPTAS-4 towed array sonar that is 20 percent lighter and 50 percent smaller but delivers the same long-range detection performance. The company also will deliver the SEA FIRE multifunction radar, suitable for all types of corvettes and frigates; the Aquilon integrated naval communication system, which provides all shipboard and external communications and delivers secure connectivity services for frigate and crew; and an Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system for electronic warfare that can precisely identify fast-moving threats in the complex radio frequency environments of littoral waters.

As of 2016, Thales equipment and systems are onboard more than 500 vessels in service with 53 navies.