‘For the First Time in India, Thales will Showcase its Innovation in Avionics Through the FlytX Suite for Helicopters’
What will be the highlight of Thales’ exhibit at Aero India 2025? What products and systems will Thales showcase?
Thales will be present in full strength at Aero India 2025, displaying on our stand 3.3 in Hall B a variety of cutting-edge technologies in air, land, and naval defence. Thales’ demonstrations highlight our commitment to ‘Make in India for India and the World’ and the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision, while supporting the Indian armed forces’ modernisation and indigenisation goals.
In the domain of air defence, Thales will display solutions like the Lightweight Multi-role Missile (LMM), STARStreak missile and ForceShield, alongside air surveillance capabilities like the GM 200 MM/A radar and SkyView air command and control system. Thales will also highlight its airborne optronics, including TALIOS.
For the first time in India, Thales will showcase its innovation in avionics through the FlytX suite for helicopters. Among other advanced aeronautics, Thales will feature navigation systems like TopAxyz, TopShield and TopStar M, and connectivity solutions such as SYNAPS-A, Modem 21 Air Compact, and NextW@ve TRA 6030 radio.
Also, for the first time in India, Thales will display its UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) system for cooperative and non-cooperative drones. As a leader in this market, our portfolio includes multiple C-UAS solutions, starting with EagleShield, an integrated nano, micro, mini and small drone countermeasures solution to protect and secure civil and military sites. In addition, Thales will feature the PARADE system, which provides 360 degree protection of people, properties and activities, as well as Gamekeeper, a holographic radar that allows detection, tracking and classification of unlimited targets simultaneously including micro and mini drones.
In the field of air surveillance, we will showcase the Air Master C radar—the latest addition to our Air Master range of airborne surveillance radars—that is highly adaptable and can be integrated into both manned and unmanned airborne platforms. Integrated at the heart of the radar, AI significantly enhances its performance, with target recognition being 100 times faster.
In the naval field, as part of our underwater solutions for efficient maritime security operations, Thales will feature its Sonoflash sonobuoy, which allows the detection of submarines.
How has Thales aligned itself with government of India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision? What kind of joint ventures, partnerships and joint research programmes does Thales have in India?
The ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision is at the heart of our growth story in India. Thales is proud to have steadily built advanced manufacturing capabilities, critical systems, and services in India through local teams and collaborations.
Our objective is not just ‘Make in India’, but also ‘export from India’, enabling the local industry to play a greater role in global markets. Over the years, we have established a team of over 2,200 employees who are working with Thales and its joint ventures in the country. Moreover, Thales has formed various partnerships with public and private sector industries such as with Bharat Electronics Ltd, dedicated to radars, among others. Additionally, we have also joined hands with Bharat Dynamics Limited, Kalyani Group and MKU.
With a growing network of over 75 qualified Indian suppliers, engaged in our global supply chain across defence and civil markets, generating more than 2,000 indirect jobs in India, Thales remains a trusted partner promoting sustainable manufacturing in the country for both India and the world.
What is the vision behind your MoU with Garuda Aerospace? What will be your areas of focus here?
Signed in 2024, the MoU with Garuda Aerospace aims to foster innovation and advance the development of technological solutions that can enable safe and secure drone operations, helping the growth of drone-based applications in India. By leveraging our broad expertise in the field of UTM solutions for the seamless management of UAV flight authorisations, Thales will offer a range of radar and sensors for high-performance UAV detection, as well as experience in system integration. In line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) vision, this partnership seeks to support India in realising its ambition to become a major global hub for drones by 2030.
What has been achieved until now through Thales’ engagement with Indian academia and industry?
India is a key pillar of engineering for Thales, and we heavily partner with Indian academia and industry to bolster research and development in the country. Thales’ engineering competence centres complement the cooperation with several academic institutions in the country.
Thales is a partner to Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) of India for advanced research and development in the field of open hardware. This collaboration involves the designing of micro-processors using open-source assets which will enable the indigenous development of hardware and complete control of the behaviour of the processor tailor-made to software applications, which is not feasible with proprietary hardware. Similarly, Thales has joined hands with IIIT-Delhi on open hardware research and development.
These partnerships also extend to our sustainability commitments in India. As part of our CSR efforts, Thales renewed its support for IIT Madras’ Carbon Zero Challenge for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024 to foster deep-tech and circular economy solutions that address environmental challenges in the energy, materials, agriculture, air, and water domains as part of the challenge.
As India progresses towards the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047, Thales will continue to invest in research and development in the country to develop new products and services for our customers.
How many engineering centres does Thales have now, and what are the areas of focus in these centres?
Thales continues to strengthen its engineering and manufacturing capabilities in India. Among our 2,200 employees, we have 1,550 engineers in our two engineering competence centres (ECC) in Noida and Bengaluru, who are focusing on developing advanced solutions in defence, aerospace and cybersecurity and digital identity for India and for the world.
Our engineering centre in Bangalore focuses on hardware, software and systems engineering capabilities for both the civil and defence sectors, serving global needs. It specialises in defence and aerospace and is working on high-value software areas such as air traffic management, complex avionics systems, cockpit, flight management, connectivity & video systems, and radar software.
Additionally, our engineering centre in Noida specialises in cybersecurity and digital identity business covering data protection & encryption, cybersecurity, IoT, biometrics, among others.
We will continue to build substantial and diverse skill sets in India by nurturing more talent in advanced technology roles at our engineering competence centres in India.
What key futuristic technologies is Thales focussing on?
Thales invests close to Euros 4 billion a year in research and development, particularly in key innovation areas such as AI, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, cloud technologies and 6G. Around 30,000 of Thales employees work in R&D and our intellectual property portfolio includes over 20,500 patents. In 2024, Thales was recognised for the 11th year as one of the world’s 100 most innovative companies in Clarivate’s Top 100 Global Innovators.
Thales is also a major AI player in complex environments such as defence. The company is Europe’s top patent applicant in the field and devotes a lot of effort to research on AI, both in-house and through academic and industry partnerships. The Group’s unique expertise in trusted AI enables us to provide armed forces with greater efficiency in data analysis and decision-making, while taking into account the specific constraints, such as cybersecurity, embeddability and frugality, associated with critical environments. At Aero India, you will be able to see how Thales has embarked AI on its solutions such as Talios or AirMaster C radar.