BAE Systems has announced the five-year partnership with Vodafone Group.

The partnership will provide businesses with a range of advanced communications security products and services, initially focused on smartphones and tablets.

The formation of the partnership is part of its continued commitment to grow cyber and security business, BAE Systems Detica, in areas such as the communications technology market. For Vodafone, the partnership extends the company's commitment to provide its global enterprise customers with the most advanced and robust security products and services available.

The first commercial element of the strategic partnership will be a new cloud-based mobile security solution, Vodafone mobile threat manager, to be brought to market in spring 2013 and initially available to Vodafone's largest 1,500 global enterprise customers. Vodafone mobile threat manager works across all networks, scanning traffic to and from a company's mobile devices in order to safeguard against malicious attacks and block inappropriate content, without impacting on device performance.

"Under the terms of the partnership, we will also confirm our intention to select Vodafone as our preferred global supplier of mobile communications, excluding the US," according to the company statement.