Thales awards SFO Technologies RBE2 radar wired structures contract for Rafale under Make in India
- First major order for high-value, technologically advanced complex wired structures —designed to withstand harsh environmental constraints— to be produced in India for the Dassault Aviation Rafale programme.
- This strengthens Thales’ long-term partnership with SFO Technologies and enhances India’s indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities.
- It supports India’s strategic localisation goals, expanding expertise from precision machining and wiring to complex systems integration.
Thales’ SEVP Operations & Performance Philippe Knoche with Thales’ VP Global Procurement for Engineering and for India & AMEWA Deepak Talwar with SFO Technologies’ Chairman & Managing Director N Jehangir and Sr. Corporate VP, Strategic Business Development UM Shafi at the signing ceremony in Bengaluru ©Thales
15 December 2025, Bengaluru, India: Thales, in partnership with SFO Technologies, has taken a significant step forward in supporting India’s strategic vision for self-reliance in defence manufacturing. The latest contract, awarded for the production of high-value, technically advanced complex wired structures of the RBE2 AESA Radar of the Indian Rafale, reinforces SFO Technologies’ long-standing expertise and enduring partnership with Thales across multiple major programmes.
This first order marks an important milestone in Thales’ Make in India strategy for the localisation of advanced radar systems, which is expected to boost local manufacturing capabilities for critical Rafale sub-systems supplied to the Indian Armed Forces. Following the order of 26 Rafale aircraft for the Indian Navy, Thales, as a proud Dassault Aviation Rafale team member, continues to execute its ambitious localisation roadmap, partnering with the aeronautics and defence ecosystem in India. The scope of expertise delivered through this partnership ranges from precision machining and assembly/wiring to electronics, microelectronics, and complex system integration.
“This partnership with SFO Technologies reflects our steadfast commitment to the Make in India initiative. Through decades of strong local collaborations, we have consistently invested in building indigenous capabilities and fostering world-class expertise within the Indian ecosystem. SFO Technologies has demonstrated exceptional innovation and reliability in every project we undertake together. We are delighted to continue reinforcing our partnership, setting new benchmarks for quality and operational excellence in support of India’s self-reliance ambitions.” Philippe Knoche, SEVP Operations and Performance, Thales.
“We are honoured of Thales’ continued trust in SFO Technologies, and proud to contribute towards deploying new expertise in the Indian ecosystem, while actively taking part in the equipment production for the Rafale India. Quality and punctuality will be our priorities to satisfy our customers, as usual.” N. Jehangir, Chairman & Managing Director, SFO Technologies.
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services addresses several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.
The Group invests more than €4 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies. Thales has more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2024, the Group generated sales of €20.6 billion.
About Thales in India
Present in India since 1953, Thales is headquartered in Noida and has other operational offices and sites spread across Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Mumbai, among others. Over 2300 employees are working with Thales and its joint ventures in India. Since the beginning, Thales has been playing an essential role in India’s growth story by sharing its technologies and expertise in Defence, Aerospace and Cyber & Digital sectors. Thales has two engineering competence centres (ECCs) in India - one in Noida focused on Cyber & Digital business, while the one in Bengaluru focuses on hardware, software and systems engineering capabilities for both the civil and defence sectors, serving global needs. Thales has also established an MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) facility in Gurugram to provide comprehensive avionics maintenance and repair services to Indian airlines.
About SFO Technologies
SFO, a NeST Group company, is a 35-year-old high-tech, end-to-end solution provider, headquartered in Kochi, India. With 22 factories across the globe and over 8,000 employees, SFO offers hardware design, software development, and vertically integrated manufacturing of mission-critical and life-critical equipment for the defense, aerospace, space, healthcare, industrial, and transportation sectors.
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