It’s Raining Maritime Intelligence from Thales’s new information services in the cloud

A maritime surveillance mission is a not a pleasure cruise. Seeing water, sky, and sometimes clouds, is not enough. You need to see the unseen before they see you, and you need to know whether they are friends or foes. Paradoxically, you need a cloud to see more clearly.

Baptised “Alexandrie”, the “Cloud of the Sea” is designed for all those who need fast reliable maritime intelligence. Even sixty nautical miles from shore and five hundred miles from a command post, it assures ultra-secured connectivity and data access, giving users the informational superiority when and where they need it.

And this dynamic cloud does not simply overload you with information. Too much data is almost as bad as too little, with the seas and airwaves increasingly crowded by both civilian and military users. Instead, the Alexandrie Cloud sheds light on what is important while hiding what is not.

Thales has used its in-house expertise in private secure cloud infrastructure to create a new solution that fits the needs of both maritime users and naval forces. It involved many stakeholders working with Thales’ digital experts, from users (the French Navy), to start-ups (e-Odyn), to software development schools (Ecole 42).

Indeed, with its experience in big data, artificial intelligence, connectivity, and cyber security, Thales has created a flexible and reliable source of intelligence for the new threats on today’s oceans. The Alexandrie Cloud of the Sea is the trusted partner of all those who need the right information at the right time and with an unquestioned level of security. And it is continuously refined by its users. Practice not theory is the byword, with clients stating their needs and programmers finding solutions.

Moreover, Alexandrie can be augmented with Big Intelligence capabilities in a networked environment with multi-level secured data exchanges. Incorporating data from aircraft recce imaging pods, drones, shored-based radars, and other communications, it becomes a global System of Systems. This boosts naval C4I operations, giving users a common vision, even on cloudy days, while breaking data silos, enabling optimal coverage of large zones, and picking up even the weakest signals from adversaries.

Jean-Philippe Mantout, Thales Product Owner of Alexandrie, sums it up: “Cloud services are a game-changer, letting civilian and military users access services from any device and offering them end-to-end control of their connectivity and interaction with third parties, while insuring ocean sovereignty.”