Airbus awarded 25-year cybersecurity contract

The French General Directorate for Armament (DGA) has awarded Airbus Cybersecurity SAS the 25-year PARACOM contract to supply advanced cybersecurity gateways for the networks of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans’ Affairs. Following a  competitive tender, the agreement covers the end-to-end design development, production, and long-term operational maintenance of the gateways. Once deployed across the armed forces and the directorates and departments of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans’ Affairs, the PARACOM gateways will be a cornerstone of the Ministry’s cybersecurity, enabling secure, filtered data exchanges between networks and information systems with different levels of classification or sensitivity. PARACOM will be approved and certified to cover a range of data exchanges between ‘secret’ and ‘unclassified’ levels. “This gateway strengthens the digital shield the French Armed Forces rely on to execute their missions,” said François Lombard, Director of Connected Intelligence at Airbus Defence and Space. “Since 2013, we have supplied French land forces with gateway solutions. Our  high level of expertise within our cybersecurity teams in the field of multi-level data-sharing solutions reinforces our position as a leading player in cybersecurity in France.” Built for high versatility, the gateways will be installed at the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans’ Affairs’ sites or deployed in theatres of operations. It will be available in several versions, either for integration into a data centre rack or as a self-contained unit for deployment in a command post. It is also designed for use in more constrained, or even restricted, tactical environments such as surface vessels, submarines, aeroplanes, helicopters or drones, or on board armoured vehicles and land vehicles. The increasing digitalisation of military operations and the associated threats means the capability to filter data flows is  a major priority for the armed forces. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at [email protected]