PARIS, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Thales is to perform test and integration support activities to help validate NATO's Ballistic Missile Defense capability.
The work, under a sub-contract from U.S.-based Leidos, is to be conducted as part of Leidos' multi-national team for NATO's BMD architecture. The team is responsible for the design, development and test of the BMD sensor interfaces with NATO's weapons and sensors and those of member states.
Thales said the testing and integration activities it will perform will occur at an integrated test bed in the Netherlands. Details of testing activities, however, were not detailed by the company.
The contract from Leidos is for four years with options for extension. The monetary value of the award was not given.
"This contract reinforces Thales's activities in ballistic missile defense," Thales said. "The first success in this field came in 2006 with the modified Thales SMART-L volume search radar tested on board (the Dutch ship) HNLMS Tromp. The radar tracked a ballistic missile from moments after being launched and provided a real-time uplink of the missile's trajectory."
In 2014, Thales was awarded contracts to update the four SMART-L radars on Dutch Navy ships to give the radars true BMD capabilities.
This year Thales demonstrated its sensor technology for detecting and tracking extraterrestrial objects at the international Maritime Theater Missile Defense Forum.
