Airbus
Defence
and
Space
and
Thales
to
produce
new
digital
maps
for
French
defence
April
5,
2016
The
IGN
has
awarded
Airbus
Defence
and
Space
and
Thales
the
so-called
GeoMaps
contract
to
supply
the
French
Ministry
of
Defence
database
with
digital
geographic
data
on a
range
of
scales,
including
city
maps.
They
will
mainly
be
based
on
images
acquired
by
the
two
Pléiades
satellites,
significantly
increasing
the
accuracy
of
the
maps
to
be
produced.
This
contract
runs
from
2016
to
2021
and
guarantees
the
consistent
geometry
and
formatting
of
all
reference
mapping
data
to
optimise
interoperability
between
the
French
Ministry
of
Defence’s
different
systems
and
services,
as
well
as
with
their
allies
and
partners.
The
IGN,
acting
for
the
Direction
Générale
de
l’Armement
(DGA),
the
French
defence
procurement
agency,
has
thus
renewed
its
confidence
in
this
consortium
founded
more
than
a
decade
ago
to
create
TopoBase
Défense,
which
GeoMaps
now
supersedes.
It
is
one
of
the
main
building
blocks
of
the
GEODE
4D
program
-
the
four-dimensional
defence
data
(geographical,
hydrographic,
oceanographic
and
meteorological)
-
which
integrates
all
the
systems
required
to
keep
the
French
armed
forces
sufficiently
informed
of
the
nature
and
characteristics
of
the
theatre
concerned.
In
the
future,
the
GeoMaps
data
will
be
managed
by
the
GEODE
4D
program
and
disseminated
to
all
the
defense
systems
and
in
all
theaters
of
operations.
The
French
Military
Staff
will
be
capable
of
generating
highly
value-added
data
to
meet
the
challenges
that
defence
forces
now
face:
to
recall
the
latest
multi-scale
geographical
data
(from
national
to
urban
level)
and
to
keep
it
highly
precise
and
updated
regularly
to
ensure
that
the
information
is
accurate.
The
areas
to
be
produced
will
be
defined
according
to
the
respective
needs
of
the
armed
forces.
The
Thales-Airbus
Defence
and
Space
consortium
will
handle
the
whole
process:
from
analysing
what
the
Military
Staff
need,
through
running
quality
control
checks
on
the
products
supplied.
This
also
includes
managing
specifications,
defining
the
production
framework
(procedures,
tools,
controls)
and
is
based
on a
large
network
of
SMEs
to
ensure
that
all
of
the
data
is
consistent
and
homogeneous.
“We
are
very
proud
of
the
confidence
that
has
been
shown
in
our
consortium..
It
really
recognises
our
teams’
expertise
and
the
know-how
of
the
French
SMEs
we
rely
on.
The
accuracy
of
the
data
we
provide
is
vital
if
the
operations
which
French
armed
forces
are
involved
in
and
the
fight
against
terrorism
in
particular
will
succeed,”
said
Bernhard
Brenner,
Head
of
Intelligence
Business
Cluster
at
Airbus
Defence
and
Space.
“Thales
is a
trusted
partner
to
the
military
and
security
industry.
With
GeoMaps,
the
consortium
stands
behind
them,
with
support
in
theatres
of
operations,
providing
them
with
high
added-value
data
to
meet
their
varying
operational
constraints
and
conducting
operations
with
intelligence
systems.
In
an
age
of
asymmetrical
conflicts,
being
able
to
rely
on
highly
precise
geographical
data
gives
them
a
real
technical
advantage
on
the
ground,”
said
Jean-Michel
Lagarde,
Deputy
General
Manager,
Secure
communications
and
Information
Systems.
