A consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a €480 million contract by the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) to once again modernise the French Navy’s RIFAN communications system.

The Réseau IP de la Force AéroNavale (RIFAN) system is the secure IP network used by the French Navy for communication and data exchange across its naval forces. It ensures connectivity between ships, aircraft, and land-based command centers.

Airbus Defence and Space and its consortium partner Naval Group have been involved in the RIFAN programme since they were awarded the RIFAN 2 upgrade in December 2008, a contract worth around €160 million.

According to Airbus, the RIFAN 3 upgrades will focus on enhancing inter-ship connectivity to progressively meet the demands of collaborative combat. This will be achieved through new high-speed, low-latency transmission systems deployed on front-line vessels.

“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,” aid Eric Even, Head of Space Digital at Airbus Defence and Space.

Development of the RIFAN 3 upgrades will be carried out between 2026 and 2030. The systems will then be deployed on naval vessels between 2028 and 2032. More than 80 vessels are expected to be equipped with the upgrades, including aircraft carriers, submarines, frigates, patrol vessels, minesweepers, amphibious helicopter carriers, command and supply vessels, and support vessels.