The French defense procurement agency (DGA) has granted Thales a contract to bring the FENNEC helicopters operated by the French Air Force and by ALAT (the French Army's Light Aviation division) up to ICAO standards. These upgrades mean that the helicopters can be introduced into Europe's civilian air traffic.
This €34-million contract sets to upgrade communication, navigation and identification equipment on 60 FENNEC military helicopters. The 5-year contract features a one-year engineering phase that will be validated with a series of in-flight qualification tests. This phase will be followed by equipment integration and in-service support.

This success puts Thales as a major actor of the ICAO upgrade market for all types of air platforms in France and abroad.