Thales S.A.
Paris defence and aerospace group (Thales name since 2000) fielding autonomous mine countermeasure systems on 12 m uncrewed vessels with towed sonar and ROVs.
Thales S.A. (Thales Group) is a French aerospace, defence, security and digital technology group headquartered in the La Defense business district of Paris. It took the Thales name in December 2000, succeeding Thomson-CSF, and is listed on Euronext Paris as a CAC 40 component. The chairman and CEO is Patrice Caine. Thales reported revenue of about EUR 22.1 billion for 2025 and had around 83,000 employees in 2024. Its activities span defence electronics, air defence, underwater systems, avionics, space (through Thales Alenia Space) and cybersecurity; the ground transportation business was sold to Hitachi Rail in 2024.
Thales's main robotics activity is autonomous naval mine countermeasures. Under the Franco-British Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) programme, managed by OCCAR, and the French SLAM-F programme, Thales has developed a system-of-systems that removes crews from minefields. Each configuration combines an uncrewed surface vessel of about 12 metres that can be airlifted in an A400M and deployed within 48 hours, the TSAM towed sonar with the SAMDIS multi-view sonar for detecting and classifying mines, a remotely operated vehicle for identification and neutralisation, a portable operations centre (e-POC), the M-Cube mission management system and secure command and control, and the Mi-Map AI-assisted sonar analysis application, which the company says processes sonar data up to four times faster. Thales delivered the first serial-production system to the French Navy in early 2025, with six USVs planned for France in 2025 in three two-USV configurations, and delivered the first of four systems to the Royal Navy in March 2025 at its Maritime Autonomy Centre in Plymouth.
Thales UK was also a partner, with Elbit Systems UK, in UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS), which developed the Watchkeeper WK450 tactical unmanned aircraft for the British Army from the Elbit Hermes 450. Watchkeeper first flew in 2010, has a 10.9 m wingspan and about 14 hours typical endurance, and 54 aircraft were ordered; Elbit took full ownership of U-TacS in January 2026.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) system
- Model: MMCM / SLAM-F
- Launch Year: 2025
Autonomous mine-hunting system-of-systems: 12 m USV, TSAM/SAMDIS towed sonar, ROV and M-Cube mission system.
Watchkeeper WK450
- Model: WK450
- Launch Year: 2010
Tactical ISR unmanned aircraft for the British Army developed by the Thales-Elbit U-TacS joint venture.
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Contact Thales S.A.
WEBSITE
https://www.thalesgroup.comHEADQUARTERS
France
Company Facts
Founded
2000
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
Europe
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Public
Funding Total
-
