Thales supports France with CONTACT tactical radio at NATO’s largest interoperability exercise

The CONTACT software-defined radios were put through their paces at the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise (CWIX) from 7-25 June 2021. This annual exercise, which involves 22 nations across 10 time zones, is a major opportunity for Thales to demonstrate the maturity and interoperability of its latest solutions.

The Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise (CWIX) is the largest interoperability event of its kind, providing an opportunity for NATO and partner nations to test interoperability between their armed forces and ensure the readiness and resilience of the communication and information systems they deploy.

During the exercise, three CONTACT NCT-t (for Noeud de Communications Tactiques – terrestres or tactical land communication node) radios were connected to a variety of different networks and 30 tests were conducted with other nations with a view to developing the latest NATO standards.

The CONTACT radios, developed under the management of the General Armament Directorate (the general contractor), are designed to accommodate NATO waveforms with the appropriate levels of security and meet the specifications of Europe’s ESSOR (European Secure SOftware-defined Radio) programme.

The exercise was an opportunity to demonstrate the maturity and interoperability of Thales radio and encryption solutions, in particular in terms of security, data rates and latency, as well as new deployment concepts for coalition operations.

These radios (called SYNAPS for export) are designed to accommodate the requirements of international markets. They have in particular already been ordered by Belgium to equip the Belgian Army.