The French defense procurement agency (Délégation Générale pour l'Armement, or DGA) has selected Thales to lead an advanced research project on new laser sources for military applications, the aerospace and defense contractor announced. The five-year contract, in effect since January, is worth close to €11 million (about $14.6 million). The procurement agency launched a competitive bidding process in 2006 and this year chose a consortium of Thales research teams working with France-based fiber laser maker Manlight, Thales said.The study will lay the groundwork for developing laser sources for jamming, target designation/range finding and active imaging systems and will include these militarized low-energy lasers: band I laser for detection and jamming of pointed optics, and new band III technologies for land forces applications; target designation/range finding laser for airborne systems; airborne laser system for active imaging; new multifunction laser combining target designation/range finding with active imaging; and a new active imaging laser for missile seekers. For more information, visit: www.thalesgroup.com