Thales Secures NATO Contract for Advanced NCOP-BMD Phase 3 Development

Thales has been chosen by NATO to execute phase 3 of the NCOP (NATO Common Operational Picture) initiative known as “NCOP-BMD”. This program will furnish NATO leaders with a consolidated, real-time visualization of operational theaters and the threat environment, thereby enhancing situational awareness for joint forces operations.

Since 2012, Thales has collaborated with NATO on its tactical situational awareness initiative, resulting in the development of Increment-1 and Increment-2 of NCOP, which now supports around 30 NATO command centers.

This agreement presents an opportunity for Thales to further aid NATO in its mission of coordination, planning, and operational command tasks, by delivering unmatched ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities to safeguard European member nations from the escalating threats posed by ballistic missiles.

“Thales has amassed extensive experience in handling NATO interoperability challenges since 2015, and this latest contract will leverage that foundation. Thales will introduce new functionalities for ballistic missile defense to enhance the situational awareness of NATO Commanders through BMD improvements,” stated Gérard Herby, Vice President of Protection Systems at Thales.

Modern joint operations are executed by land, air, and naval forces utilizing various command systems, generating vast quantities of georeferenced operational data. The NCOP application captures, compiles, and correlates all of this data to create a unified, comprehensive overview of the operational theater, offering NATO commanders a Common Operational Picture (COP) that ensures optimized awareness of joint forces operations—leading to more effective decision-making and actionable responses.

In order to fulfill this need, Thales has innovated a software solution designed to grant the operational community secure access to multiple COPs. Tactical intelligence from various data sources enhances situational awareness of joint forces operations, thereby ensuring information superiority across the battlefield.

Every COP is presented in real time and encompasses crucial elements such as current operations, the logistical and operational assets of both friendly and adversary forces, along with potential action plans for future coordinated endeavors.