Airbus Defence and Space to Enhance Qatar Armed Forces Command and Control Capabilities with Direct Access to Satellite Imagery

Qatar Armed Forces will receive and process satellite data through a multi-mission Direct Receiving Station

This ground infrastructure will be specifically equipped with all necessary tools to support military operations, crisis monitoring or environment studies

Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a contract to provide Qatar Armed Forces (QAF) with a multi-mission Direct Receiving Station and image analysis capabilities.

This complete infrastructure will allow QAF to receive and process satellite data and give them the capacity to produce value added data and situation reports for military operations and various government applications. A comprehensive set of services is also part of the agreement, including a comprehensive training and knowledge transfer plan.

QAF will be provided with all the tools and knowledge necessary to satellite data acquisition and derived-products generation, especially in the fields of image analysis, cartography and a range of other applications. Thus, the QAF command and control capabilities will be significantly enhanced.

This success is the result of a long experience in the field of Direct Receiving Stations, cartography and image analysis systems and services, combined to the wide range of Airbus Defence and Space’s satellite imagery.

"This contract is part of the Capability Enhancement that has been approved by His Highness the Commander in Chief. The project shall enhance QAF command and control capability and support to military operations. We have selected Airbus Defence and Space after a rigorous evaluation process which lasted more than one year. We trust the Airbus technical and project management capabilities to ensure the delivery of the project at the highest standard", said Brigadier Eng. Abdulaziz Falah Al-Dosari, Assistant for Technology to the Minister of State for Defence Affairs.

"This contract is the materialization of a relationship built on mutual trust that has been developed with QAF for a long time. It confirms, once again, the Airbus Defence and Space expertise in ground segment services, through its Direct Receiving Stations and images processing tools tailored for the Defence sector", said Bernhard Brenner, Head of Intelligence Business Cluster at Airbus Defence and Space.

Intelligence is the new Business Cluster within Airbus Defence and Space that brings together two successful and established businesses, Defence Systems and Geo-Intelligence, with strong national & international Defence market synergies.

Airbus Defence and Space

Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group, is Europe’s number one defence and space enterprise and the second largest space business worldwide. Its activities include space, military aircraft and related systems and services. It employs more than 38,000 people and in 2015 generated revenues of over 13 billion Euros.