A French defence procurement agency has awarded Thales $758 million, as the prime contractor on the third stage of the Army's communications network programme. 

The programme called 'ASTRIDE', is set to enhance the French Army's ability to operate digital, satellite and battlespace intranet systems. It is said to create "high-speed, intelligent, and resilient networking of army command posts, from the theatre joint command post to the combined arms battlegroups" according to the Direction générale de l'armement (DGA).

The system will improve upon the 2000-2014 system, creating a deployable network with greater resilience and protection for digital systems.

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