BAE Systems and the Vodafone Group have entered into a five year partnership to develop and market security products for the communications market, including smartphones and tablets.

The partnership will see Vodafone becoming BAE’s preferred supplier for all mobile communication devices.

The first product developed by the partnership will be a cloud-based security application called Vodafone Mobile Threat Manager, to be launched in Spring 2013.

The five year partnership will focus services at a business enterprise level, with high demand for increased security as technology develops and uptake increases in the workforce. BAE Systems CEO, Ian King said: “technologies are subject to the vulnerabilities of cyber space and we can provide the mobile marketplace with protection against today's threats and the advanced threats of the future".