Paris, France. The French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) has signed with Airbus Defence and Space and launched a framework contract for the training and education of all cybersecurity experts at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, including cyber warriors in the armed forces.
The eight-year contract, led by Airbus Defence and Space and its co-contractor Neverhack, covers the development, production and operational maintenance of training platforms, as well as the provision of training and coaching services, including the development of operational cyber defence scenarios.
In particular, it will equip the Cyber Defence Academy of the Cyber Defence Command (COMCYBER) in the Rennes region with a cyber defence training centre. This centre will contribute to the operational preparation of cyber warriors through specific training courses dedicated to different cyber specialists. Cyber training for personnel and organisations aims to increase the pool of cybersecurity experts and strengthen the cyber defence techniques of the armed forces, as well as their effectiveness and operational maturity.
The platforms will enable the simulation of attack-defence scenarios in the context of military operations on the digital battlefield, as well as in large-scale exercises at national, joint or multinational level, such as Orion or DefNet.
Training and exercises will cover the entire spectrum of cyber threats: malicious attacks using malware, denial of service, data theft, information manipulation and cyber influence operations such as disinformation on social media. In order to develop its platform and take into account the emergence of new threats and technologies, Airbus will be able to collaborate with start-ups and SMEs in areas such as artificial intelligence.
The applications integrated into the platforms will make it possible to reproduce the environment of the armed forces’ networks and information systems in the broadest sense, including C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) and weapons systems.
Each use case will consist of IT infrastructure, advanced cyberattack scenario simulations, physical phenomena, and ‘life simulations’ that enhance the realism of training by integrating users with legitimate, accidental or malicious activity.
In the field of training and education, Airbus Defence and Space has been deploying its CyberRange platforms for nearly 10 years in various ministries and companies in sensitive sectors to conduct training, exercises and challenges, as well as for events such as ‘Passe ton Hack D’abord’, organised for 7,000 pupils and students by COMCYBER and the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research. The Airbus CyberRange platform is also deployed in more than 25 partner schools to equip cybersecurity training courses and help develop a pool of experts.
More broadly, Airbus Defence and Space provides SOCs (Security Operation Centres) deployed in mainland France by the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Tactical SOCs for external operations (OPEX) to oversee the security of its information and communication systems.
