Thales is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in Singapore. The company established a presence in the city-state back in the 1970s, with a small team that was exclusively dedicated to avionics for regional airlines. Today, it employs 2,000 people in Singapore across a number of businesses, and is involved in a full range of activities, from R&D to engineering and manufacturing. 

Avionics is still a core business for Thales in Singapore, but it has experienced spectacular growth over the past fifty years. The country now has a worldwide centre of excellence that offers airlines a broad range of services and assistance, as well as the company’s largest aircraft maintenance centre.

Changi Airport has seen the introduction of a number of world premiere cutting-edge technologies, such as the LORADS III air traffic management system. And today, the joint Aviation Innovation Research (AIR) Lab – a laboratory run in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) – is where first-rate engineers are preparing the future of air traffic management.

A broad scope of businesses

Thales’s activities in Singapore now extend far beyond the aviation sector; today, they include the fields of defence, cybersecurity and digital identity.

In the defence and security field, Thales remains a long-term provider of solutions to the Singapore Armed Forces (from radars to naval systems), all of which keep the nation secure. They increasingly work with customers and key end users on the further digitalisation and modernisation of systems, including providing services and long-term support.

Thales has also been working with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) since 1995, and most recently partnered with Singapore’s Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) to keep homeland security safe, with technology such as Command and Control (C2) systems and cybersecurity.

As for the digital identity & security sector, Singapore is home to the Group's largest multi-module production site. Inaugurated 25 years ago and employing 300 qualified engineers, this centre produces millions of bank cards, micro-modules and radio frequency antennae every month. for customers worldwide

Innovation through cooperation

Singapore is also an influential innovation and research hub in a number of advanced scientific and engineering fields.

Since 2009, the Thales Research & Technology lab has been associated with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the CNRS (the French national scientific research centre) in one of the rare international joint units involving an industry partner – a lab called CINTRA. The work carried out by the teams there mainly concerns the fields of nanotechnology and microsatellites.

The Group has also signed numerous memoranda of understanding and cooperation agreements with universities and other key local partners, notably the National University of Singapore, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Republic Polytechnic, HTX and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

Major investments

This 50th anniversary is a significant landmark in the close relationship that Thales has built with Singapore, and it marks the beginning of a new phase of development. The Group is determined to strengthen its local footprint and business, and the anniversary celebrations have provided the opportunity to announce a number of significant new investments. 

Firstly, the inauguration of Thales Singapore Defence Hub (TSDH), operating with three pillars in services, engineering and research. It will enhance long-term defence capabilities, including maintenance, support, operational availability and local development to meet the needs of the Singapore Armed Forces.

Secondly, the establishment of the new Air Traffic Management Centre of Excellence (ATM CoE), strengthens Thales’s ATM capabilities in the region, leveraging the expertise grown in Singapore to make the country the centre for future-forward ATM capabilities in the region.  

Lastly, Thales has announced the launch of Scaleflyt Remote ID, a system that identifies and locates drones remotely, fully developed and built in Singapore.

In total, Thales is expected to create around 1,000 jobs in Singapore over the next three years.

To find out more: Thales in Singapore | Thales Group