An Airbus Defence and Space-led consortium, including Naval Group, has been awarded a contract by the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) for the IP Network of the French Navy (RIFAN) stage 3.
The contract, which is valued at a maximum of €480m ($503.52m) and spanning up to ten years, encompasses the development, deployment, and operational maintenance of RIFAN upgrades.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The development of RIFAN upgrades is scheduled between 2026 and 2030, with deployment on more than 80 vessels planned from 2028 to 2032.
The fleet includes French Navy’s aircraft carriers, submarines, amphibious helicopter carriers, command and supply vessels, frigates, patrol vessels, support vessels and minesweepers.
RIFAN 3 aims to enhance inter-ship connectivity to support collaborative combat through the introduction of new high-speed, low-latency transmission methods on front-line vessels.
Network resilience will be bolstered by developing reconfiguration mechanisms to adapt communication means to various tactical and operational scenarios.
The network’s cybersecurity will be strengthened to ensure the integrity and continuity of operations.
Airbus Defence and Space Digital head Eric Even said: “Airbus Defence and Space has been involved in the development and deployment of the network and communication systems of French Navy ships for almost 15 years.
“With RIFAN 3, we are preparing for the next stage, that of collaborative naval combat, networked combat of all assets and platforms involved in naval operations.”
The RIFAN 2 system was commissioned between 2012 and 2016 by the French Navy and Airbus Defence and Space and partners.
It integrated communication resources onboard, such as Syracuse IV, Comcept, and various satellite constellations, within an IP network with high security.
In 2018, the French Navy’s surface fleet was equipped with the RIFAN 2 secure intranet system.
The following year, the DGA awarded the RIFAN 2.1 contract to the consortium led by Airbus, including Naval Group and Rohde & Schwarz.
