Thales on the front line of intelligent drone systems

Drones have become a fact of life in the theatre of operations. With record numbers of strikes in Ukraine, repeated violations of European airspace and escalating attacks in the Middle East, unmanned air systems have become a core capability, reshaping defence and security strategies and transforming the operational deployment doctrines of the armed forces. 

As the French forces come to recognise this new reality and embrace drone-based operations, Thales has developed a variety of innovative solutions tailored to their specific requirements. They range from drone systems for ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) missions and the Toutatis family of loitering munitions to intelligent drone swarms designed for the age of collaborative combat. 

All these systems have a key role to play in military operations. And they are just as important for civil security and public safety, keeping a watchful eye over major events and national borders, protecting critical infrastructure and helping to manage wildfire risks.

ISR and Toutatis: pioneering, proven and certified

As a system integrator, Thales brings a unique combination of expertise in drones and artificial intelligence to the table, offering innovative ways to counter new threats and deliver leading-edge operational capabilities. ISR mini-drones, for example, rely on high-performance optronic and electronic warfare payloads to provide the premium data users need to anticipate developments, gain the initiative and maintain operational superiority. Some of these systems, such as the Noctua and Grizzly ranges developed with the start-up Aeromapper, which Thales acquired last year, have already been proven in operational conditions. Thales is also ahead of the field in drone avionics. In fact, it was the first-ever aerospace company to be granted SAIL III certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for drone operations in partially populated areas.

Along side Aeromapper, Thales has also developed Toutatis, the latest generation of loitering munitions, which deliver high operational value by engaging time-sensitive targets of interest at short notice. With high precision terminal guidance coupled with trusted AI, these unmanned air systems can raise the tempo of operations while keeping humans in the loop at every step: the human operator needs to approve the engagement and can modify or abort the mission at any time. In addition, the weapon's one metre precision minimises the risk of collateral damage.

Next up: intelligent and autonomous drone swarms

Intelligent and autonomous drone swarms are another key area of development for Thales. With intelligent systems embedded in the drones, a single operator can control large numbers of autonomous platforms to carry out operations in different areas. Relying on robust communications networks, these coordinated swarms of autonomous drones are suitable for a wide variety of missions, including intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting. In civil security applications, for example, drone swarms can be used to detect wildfire hot spot, and on the battlefield, they can find potential threats, help to understand the enemy's intentions, carry out reconnaissance in contested environments, support artillery operations, and much more. 

In other words, scalable swarms of different types of intelligent drones capable of reorganising themselves in real time can perform multiple roles, lightening the cognitive load on the human operator, who retains control of the critical decision chain at all times. All these drone systems developed by Thales rely on secure communications capabilities to guarantee operational superiority. They are cybersecure, built on open architectures and fully interoperable for seamless deployment on NATO, EU, UN missions or other multinational coalition operations. 

In conclusion, drone systems open up an expanding field of opportunities for user-centred innovation, led by Thales's R&D teams in partnership with start-ups and other players in the defence and technology industries.