Airbus has signed a 25-year cybersecurity contract with the French Ministry of Defense, known as PARACOM. The Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA), France’s defense procurement agency, announced on September 23 that it has chosen Airbus Cybersecurity, a specialized subsidiary of Airbus, to provide secure data gateways. These gateways will be used to protect data exchanges between classified military networks and less sensitive ones. The contract includes the development, production, and ongoing maintenance of these security systems, which will be deployed at the ministry’s locations and in military operations across the globe. In the French military, computer networks are separated based on the sensitivity of the information they handle, ranging from "secret" to "non-protected." These networks occasionally need to communicate, and PARACOM will act as a secure intermediary, filtering and protecting data transfers between them. Once officially certified for use with these levels of sensitivity, the gateways will be deployed across the armed forces and within the ministry’s various departments. These systems are expected to become a critical component of France’s cybersecurity infrastructure. Airbus has been providing similar gateways to the French land forces since 2013, according to François Lombard, who leads the Connected Intelligence division at Airbus Defence and Space. Lombard explained that PARACOM will help strengthen the "digital shield" of French military forces. The contract requires Airbus to design, build prototypes, and manufacture the gateways, as well as maintain them in working condition for the entire 25-year duration. This long-term commitment ensures the systems remain functional and up-to-date throughout the contract period. PARACOM will be installed in a variety of locations, including data centers, submarines, and military buildings, and will be deployed in both fixed and mobile operational environments. Airbus plans to create several versions of the gateways to suit different needs. One version will be integrated into standard data center racks, while another will be a portable unit used in field command posts. Additional versions are being developed for more challenging environments, such as drones, ships, aircraft, and armored vehicles. As military operations grow increasingly digital, the volume of data being transmitted has risen, along with the risk of cyber threats. Managing these data flows has become a major challenge for defense forces. For Airbus, this contract highlights its expertise in handling secure exchanges between networks of varying sensitivity levels. According to Lombard, the deal reinforces Airbus’s position as a key player in France’s cybersecurity landscape, capable of delivering critical technologies without reliance on foreign providers. The contract’s value, the number of gateways ordered, and the deployment timeline were not disclosed.