Drones, C-UAV, radars and airport security systems on display
On 29 May 2017, some 30 media persons from around the world gathered at Bretigny in France for a 3-day detailed session on Thales and their activities which included factory visits and live demonstrations of some of their innovative products.
Thales is a global technology leader in the aerospace, transport, defence and security markets. With 64,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales has recorded sales turnover of €14.9 billion in 2016. With over 25,000 engineers and researchers on their rolls, Thales designs and deploys equipment, systems and services to meet security requirements worldwide.
After arrivals throughout the day in Paris and then being shifted to Bretigny on 29 May, a welcome dinner was organised for the international media gathered there. It was a good opportunity to get to know the Thales officials as well as fellow journalists in a calm and beautiful setting. Next morning, 30 May, we left our hotel to Thales’ hangar in the North Zone for a presentation of ‘Thales in the field of drones’ given by Thibault Trancart - Vice President Marketing and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Strategic project, Thales. This was followed by a presentation of the Nouvelle Aquitaine and Ile- deFrance Clusters to highlight this sector of excellence in the field of drones. These very interesting talks and presentations were delivered by Jean-Marc Grolleau - AETOS cluster Director, Thales and Jean-Philippe
Bonhomme - Drones Paris Region Cluster Director, Thales. A very interesting session followed, on Thales’ Counter-UAV system by Michel Dechanet - Air Defence Business development Director, Thales.
We then moved on to the South Zone for a live demonstration of the mini drone Spy’Ranger, which included the installation from scratch to launch, all within a short duration. The Spy’Ranger is on offer to the Indian Armed Forces for which there is a requirement for 200 of the type.
The afternoon session involved ‘Thematic workshops’ inside the hangar. Styled like a mini-trade show where one could talk individually to each company and visit each stand, the themes included ‘ Unmanned Warrior with WKP and Halcyon’, ‘ Innovation with Stratobus and AUSS’, ‘Unmanned Traffic Management ( UTM)’, ‘ Communication for UAVs’, ‘ Counter- UAV’ and ‘ Spy’Ranger’. Two SME clusters showed their prowess: the SMEs Ile- de- France cluster and SME AETOS Cluster.
Of particular interest was the SME’s AETOS Cluster with Jean-Marc Grolleau - AETOS cluster Director, Thales as the lead man, very enthusiastic and passionate about his responsibility, much information garnered on his subjects. Some highlights were the DRONISOS (firefighter, tool for the SNCF etc), Drone Protect System / Skeyetech (smart surveillance system drone), Helipse manufacturer for helicopter drones (with a new model HE220E), Reflet du Monde (long distance drone including a satellite communication solution), Nethis (Capteur Terahertz to see through materials) and the Helper Drone which is used to save lives (beach surveillance and so on).
Ever since the AETOS cluster was set up in 2010 as a joint initiative by Thales and the Aquitaine regional authorities, the Group has been actively involved in developing unmanned air systems and services industry in this region of South-West France. Led by Jean-Marc Grolleau of Thales, the cluster has attracted some 60 companies from
every part of the UAS value chain. Some of these are technology providers, NeTHIS for example, developing terahertz imaging systems that can “see through” matter while others design complete unmanned systems. Fly- n- Sense, for instance, was the first company ever authorised by the air traffic control authorities to deploy a civil UAS in French airspace. The cluster also includes service providers offering flight time by the hour or developing turnkey solutions for customers, as well as training schools for UAS operators and the CESA test centre, which provides facilities for flight testing unmanned air systems at several sites in the Aquitaine region.
“Thales has a long and extensive experience in military unmanned air systems, and as a co-founder of the AETOS cluster we want to support the major ecosystem that is now emerging around unmanned systems and services. The cluster has attracted other large companies, including Airbus, Safran and Dassault, as well as numerous SMEs and start-ups serving different parts of the aerospace market,” stated Jean-Marc Grolleau.
One of Thales’s specific objectives is to promote collaborative developments and innovative products by working hand-inhand with some of the SMEs and research institutes taking part in the UAS cluster initiative. The CARUS project (Cooperative Autonomous Reconfigurable UAV Swarm), for example, is a collaborative venture with several SMEs and the LaBRI research lab ( Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche Informatique) aiming to prove the feasibility of a swarm of UAVs conducting a mission autonomously. In other words, making their own decisions without being controlled from the ground at every step.
In addition to these futuristic projects, cluster members have developed a number of fully operational unmanned air systems, some of which are already commercially available. Several projects conducted at the AETOS cluster have demonstrated the operational and economic benefits of unmanned air systems in various applications and are now being developed into products and solutions for customers. Several SMEs have already moved into the production phase. Fly- n- Sense, as mentioned before, is offering an unmanned air system that can fly over a wildfire front and transmit real-time images to a command centre, helping the authorities to make critical decisions about the resources needed on the ground. The system is being proposed to fire-fighters in France and has already been selected in Canada.
Thales’s involvement in the cluster goes well beyond promoting innovative R&D projects. A number of Thales employees are taking part in the dedicated training modules offered by Bordeaux University and various engineering schools to help tomorrow’s specialists understand the science and culture of unmanned air systems.
And so, after an intense but most interesting day, we boarded a bus to our next destination which was Rouen.
On 31 May, at the Thales Rouen site, there were presentations on activities with a radar activity focus. Talking to us on these topics were Marc Fiolin, Director of Rouen Thales site and Thierry Le Joncour, Director for surface civil radar activities, Thales. More details were given on new generation radars by Gaston Marcantoni, Director for surface multi-functions radar activities, Thales.
Later we were introduced to Thales’ Factory of the Future and the Company Group vision as well with focus on the Factory 4.0 with the Sea Fire 500 radar at Rouen. Presentations by Philippe Chamoret, Vice President Industry, Thales, Marc Fiolin, Director of Rouen Thales site and Philippe Eudeline, Innovation Director for surface radar activities, Thales were informative indeed !
We walked around the site to see at firsthand operations of the new Trac NG radar and its systems as well as three production centres. Philippe Juge, Product line manager for Air Traffic Management radars, Thales walked us through the details.
As for the military part, we were provided information on the RBE2 AESA radar which is on order for the Indian Rafales. We also had the opportunity to “discover” two new RBE2 innovations. A presentation on this radar for the international market was provided by Bruno Gilon, Product line manager for combat aircraft, Thales. Handson activities included simulation activities for airborne systems and 3D immersive training.
The Rouen tour continued with a presentation given by Thibault Trancart, Marketing director for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance activities on the Searchmaster radar ( and its new developments) and Coast Watcher 100 (CW100).
Another hectic day over, we left for the train station for departure to Paris.
On 1 June, at Thales’ Gennevilliers site, we were introduced to Thales’ solutions in the security market. This included airport security solutions from anti-terrorism to new video technology tools. Details on Thales’ radar and airport security solutions will be covered in Vayu’s next issue (Sep/Oct 2017).
All in all an excellent visit to Thales. Vayu thanks the entire team at Thales in France who managed to put together such an extensive plan and discussing such a wide variety of topics/products (in such an efficient manner). And of course, a special “Thank you” to AnneSophie Malot, Dorothée Bonneil and Cedric Leuerquin who escorted and put up with all our demands throughout the tour!
In the next Issue, we will cover Thales’ radar & airport security systems.