Airbus Defence and Space has signed a strategic 8-year contract with the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) for the training of all cybersecurity personnel within the French Armed Forces. This comprehensive framework agreement aims to enhance France’s digital defence capabilities and equip all personnel, from cyber warriors to Security Operations Centre (SOC) specialists, with advanced training.

Advanced Training Platforms to Be Established at Cyber Academy

The contract will be implemented by a consortium led jointly by Airbus and its partner company Neverhack. As part of the project, the Cyber Defence Academy, linked to COMCYBER in the Rennes region, will be equipped with high-tech training platforms capable of conducting cyber threat simulations and operational cyber exercise scenarios.

These centres will have the infrastructure to carry out real-time attack and defence simulations, designed for use in national and multinational military exercises such as Orion and DefNet.

Exercises to Cover Realistic Threat Scenarios

The cyber threat topics to be covered in the training will include:

• Malware attacks

• Denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks

• Data theft and manipulation

• Social media disinformation

• Cyber sabotage against critical infrastructure

The exercise environments will allow for the virtual reconstruction of C4ISR systems and military information networks, offering training conditions close to real combat situations.

Airbus CyberRange-Based Training Model

Airbus is building the training infrastructure on its own CyberRange platform. This platform has previously been used for the “Passe ton Hack d’abord” competition, which involved 7,000 students, as well as in more than 25 partner schools across France. To ensure the sustainability of the training, Airbus will continue to collaborate with start-ups and SMEs, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence.

Contributing to France’s Tactical SOC Capability

Airbus also provides and monitors the security of the tactical SOC (Security Operations Centre) infrastructures used by the French military both domestically and in overseas operations (OPEX). With this new contract, the cybersecurity capabilities of these operations will be further strengthened.