Airborne surveillance & intelligence systems

Empowering MPA et Special Missions Aircraft situational awareness

Surveillance and intelligence
Defence
Air

Thales delivers state-of-the-art sensors and systems for real-time data gathering, information dominance and aircraft protection to enhance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission effectiveness.

Our Strenghts

Capable of all missions

Our sensors and systems provide real-time accurate data to perform a wide range of missions: Air-to-Sea, Air-to-Ground, and Air-to-Air surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, search and rescue, air support and Intelligence gathering.
Designed for all mission platforms

Our sensors and systems are designed for seamless integration into any ISR aircraft—whether fixed-wing planes or helicopters, manned or unmanned. Combat-proven, scalable and interoperable with other systems, our solutions are currently deployed on a wide range of platforms worldwide.
Cutting-edge critical systems

Thales provides a comprehensive range of next-generation radar, electronic warfare, sonar, communication, avionics solutions to optimise ISR missions and provide information and decision superiority.
Comprehensive support

In today’s tense global context, Thales contributes to mission success through operational preparation and in-service support that sustain air forces’ readiness, sustainability and equipment performance at the highest level.
Powered by AI

High intensity combined to increasing reliability of detection generates an exponential volume of data for the operators. Our solutions embed AI functionalities to enable rapid decisions based on accurate information and reduce the crew workload.

ISR aircraft, maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft ensure a wide range of missions in complex environments and over wide areas. Our systems and sensors on-board deliver modern Navies and Air Forces better instantaneous understanding of the sea, land and air situation and are adapted to the whole spectrum of their missions.

CERES - Guerre Electronique © MIP – Thales

Thales delivers cutting-edge radar, EW, sonar, connectivity, navigation, SIGINT, and space solutions for any kind of airborne platform—manned or uncrewed—and satellites. Our state-of-the-art systems empower armed forces to understand the situation and anticipate its evolution, ensuring dominance and mission success in complex and evolving environments.

Understand the situation and anticipate its evolution is key for mission success

Embedding cutting-edge technology such as AESA, the AirMaster family, a portfolio of airborne multi-role radars, designed to detect, locate, track, classify and image evolving threats in contested maritime and land environments. Relying on a full set of different modes, our radars enable continuous surveillance and support a wide range of ISR missions.

Our Radar ESM (R-ESM) and Communications ESM (C-ESM) technologies allow comprehensive monitoring and analysis of enemy radar and communications emissions for confident decision-making at tactical, operational and strategic levels. Our SIGINT systems enable precise interception and analysis of enemy electromagnetic signals, delivering actionable intelligence.

Advanced anti-submarine warfare relies on integrated systems to counter ultra-quiet submarines. FLASH dipping sonar enables rapid, precise detection, while SonoFlash sonobuoys provide wide-area coverage. BlueTracker fuses data from both, delivering a unified situational picture for superior detection, tracking, and faster decisions to ensure effective maritime defence.

Thales offers a diverse portfolio of connectivity solutions that includes complementary line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) capabilities for the secure transmission of voice and data across all platforms (air, ground-air & surface-air networks). These solutions enable joint and allied interoperability while addressing nations' sovereignty needs, and they provide the performance required in terms of bandwidth, latency, resilience, and discretion.

CERES is designed to detect and geo-locate electromagnetic signals from radio communication systems and radars from areas where surface sensors cannot reach. From its low Earth orbit, CERES is free from airspace overflight constraints and can operate in all types of weather. The system provides in-depth information to support military operations for the French Armed Forces, thus improving situational awareness.