Department of Defence awards €76 million contract for modern radio system for the Defence Forces

The Department of Defence has awarded a €76 million contract for the provision of a modern Software Defined Radio System for the Defence Forces, replacing a near 30-year-old system.

The new systems are to be supplied by Thales Group and will replace the Defence Forces Tactical Single Channel Ground Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS) radio, which has been in service within the Defence Forces since 1996.

Responding to the award of the contract, the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD, said “This investment in new tactical radio systems will enable the Defence Forces to rapidly adapt to emerging threats, enhance spectrum efficiency, and support multiple communication standards using software configuration, significantly improving the Defence Force’s communication capabilities and cyber resilience.

It also reflects the Government’s commitment to ensuring operational capabilities are maintained and developed to enable the Defence Forces to carry out the roles assigned by Government both at home and overseas and will support the move to “Level of Ambition 2”, as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission on Defence.”

Note for Editors:

• The cost of the initial contract under this Framework Agreement, including strategic spare parts, training and maintenance agreements, is €76.1 million including VAT.

• The award of the contract follows a competitive dialogue tender competition, including 5 months of field trials. The first deliveries of radio equipment have already arrived and will continue to be delivered over the coming months with the vast majority delivered by Q1 2026.

• The radios systems with be manufactured by Thales UK Limited and by Thales SIX GTS France S.A.S.

• The Department of Defence has received a capital allocation of €176 million in Budget 2024, and is set to receive a capital allocation of €215 million for 2025 and €220 million for 2026 following a revision of NDP multi-annual allocations.

• This level of capital funding allows a phased planned programme of sustained equipment and infrastructural development across the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service as identified and prioritised in the Defence White Paper and the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, while building on the significant investment programme over recent years

• This is following Government approval for a move over a six-year period to a level of Defence Forces’ capability equivalent to ‘Level of Ambition 2’ (LOA2), as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission on Defence Forces, which will entail funding increases to reach a Defence budget of approximately €1.5 billion (at January 2022 prices) by 2028 through the annual Estimates.