The long endurance capabilities of MALE UAS make them ideal for the surveillance of theatres of operation and for zone reconnaissance. These systems can be used to identify the position of enemy forces, the mass movement of non-combatant populations, the state of in-theatre infrastructures, as well as to establish lists of targets.
Thales is a key European player in unmanned and manned surveillance systems – in particular, the company benefits from solid experience in the information-centric operations of Watchkeeper and manned C4ISTAR systems, which it could draw on to produce the most cost-effective implementation of intelligent mission system capabilities within the MALE UAS system architecture.
Thales sees the combination of its experience and expertise in C4ISTAR, avionics, unmanned aerial systems, certification, communications and security, battlefield and exploitation, with the airframer, as providing a clear potential value for the development of a European MALE UAS.