Mr. Norman R.A. Smyth, President of Thales Systems Canada Inc. of Ottawa, Ontario announced today that the company had been awarded a contract valued at of the order of $1.3 million by Public Works and Government Services Canada to deliver VHF Digital Selective Calling (DSC) Systems as part of the Canadian Coast Guard’s West Coast Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). The VHF DSC/GMDSS systems will be installed at the Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) Centres in Vancouver, Tofino, and Comox, BC and will enable the Coast Guard to have Sea Area A1 (VHF frequency range) coverage in place by mid-1998.

The main functions of the VHF DSC systems are to process marine distress calls and to interface to the Coast Guard’s Rescue Coordination Centres’ traffic handling systems. They will also be used, as necessary, to acknowledge distress alerts, to relay distress calls, and for distress, urgency, safety and routine traffic. In making the announcement, Mr. Smyth noted that "the DSC system is an automated distress and safety system which expedites the handling of maritime mobile traffic and facilitates efficient calling using VHF Channel 70 and that these systems will provide GMDSS Sea Area A1 coverage over BC’s lower coastal areas." He also pointed out that "the fully-redundant equipment is designed to operate for a minimum of 15 years and will provide continuous service on a 24-hour per day basis."

Thales Systems, based in Ottawa, Ontario, is a systems integration company which designs, develops, and delivers systems for defence, aerospace, and civil applications. The primary business areas of Thales Systems are command, control, and communications (C³) and countermine systems. As Canada’s leading government communication systems integrator, Thales Systems is currently integrating LF/MF/HF/ VHF/UHF radio communication systems for the Canadian Navy, HF radio systems for the Canadian Army, and HF radio systems for the Canadian portion of NORAD. The Coast Guard contract takes advantage of this experience and will enable to company to pursue similar projects in Canada and internationally.

Thales Systems is a subsidiary of Thales, the number one company in Europe and number three world-wide in professional electronics for civil and military markets.