Thales expertise for the Spanish Army's Experimental Brigade

A delegation of senior Spanish Army officials led by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Francisco J. Varela Salas visited the Thales headquarters in Getafe, near Madrid, on 22 October to find out more about the company's defence, aerospace and security activities.

Welcoming the delegation* to the Getafe high-tech test and experimentation centre, Thales Country Director Jesús Sánchez Bargos explained how the company's expertise can support the goals of Experimental Brigade 2035 — an Army brigade designated to test the new concepts that could play a key role in military manoeuvres in 2035. He also spoke more broadly about the Spanish Army's digital transformation and the operational potential of technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, Big Data and cybersecurity.

The visit included a series of demonstrations of Thales's new software-defined radio, SYNAPS, which is an evolution of the PR4G radio currently being adapted to accommodate the Supermux waveform and also incorporates the new European coalition waveform ESSOR.

Thales also had an opportunity to present its command-and-control systems expertise, with a focus on the BMS and Simacet systems, Horus X, which controls multiple sensors from a single centre to provide a smart surveillance capability, and the Eclipse signals jammer.

The company's technological leadership is bringing all these capabilities together today to make collaborative combat a reality tomorrow.

After the demonstrations, the delegation toured the Getafe production and maintenance centre for a chance to see some of the defence and aeronautical products and solutions being developed for the Spanish armed forces.

Thales in Getafe

Thales's Getafe site near Madrid employs more than 130 people, mainly engineers and technical specialists. Located in the La Carpetania industrial complex, the 3,700 sq.m. facility specialises in command-and-control systems, military radiocommunication systems, smart surveillance systems (UAS, radars, optronic sensors, etc.), navigational aids and avionics. The site also houses a large-scale production and maintenance centre and dedicated testing and experimentation facilities for civil and military command-and-control systems. In addition, Getafe is the global competence centre for all Thales countries of operation working on smart surveillance projects.

The production and maintenance centre is fully kitted out for high-tech assembly, repairs and testing of equipment modules and end products. Its calibration lab is equipped to certify the calibration of practically all the instruments used by the company.

Last but not least, its Smart Lab experimentation centre has the capacity to interconnect all types of C8ISR* and telecommunications systems, enabling the armed forces to experiment with new concepts and systems in the most realistic conditions possible.

*The delegation included Gen. Francisco J. Varela Salas, Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army; Lt. Gen. Ramón Pardo de Santayana y Gómez-Olea, Chief of the Army's Logistical Support Command; Gen. José Ramón Pérez Pérez, Deputy Director of Weapon Systems; Gen. Juan Francisco Arrazola Martínez, Head of the Cabinet of the Chief of Staff; Col. José Manuel Núñez Rastrollo from the Sensors, Electronic Warfare, CIS Systems and Simulators Section; and Lt. Col Ismael Fernández de la Carrera from the Cabinet of the Chief of Staff.

*Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cloud, Cyber, Collaborative Combat and Intelligence.