Thales

Not wanting the Americans to have all the Star Wars fun, French multinational Thales has unveiled its answer to the US Golden Dome. Claimed to already be operational, the SkyDefender system is designed to protect entire regions against air and missile attacks.

The age of uncrewed air combat took a step forward as two Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) JACKAL drones developed by Flyby Technology successfully fired Thales Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) in tests sponsored by the Royal Air Force.

To counter increasingly dangerous low-level, close-quarters surface and aerial threats, Nexter and Thales have unveiled the latest version of the RAPIDFire autonomous gun turret at the Euronaval 2022 naval defense exhibition in Paris.

Defense companies Leonardo and Thales have successfully tested the Martlet Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM). The missile being developed for the Royal Navy was fired during air trials from a Wildcat helicopter as part of the UK FASGW program.

A world where unmanned aircraft soar alongside their manned counterparts mightn't be all that far away, with UK defence firm Thales recently flying its Watchkeeper drone in civil airspace for the first time.

If you hunt unexploded sea mines for a living, then you might not mind losing your job to a robot. That seems to be the reasoning of the British and French governments as they embark on a joint venture to develop a prototype autonomous system for detecting and neutralizing sea mines.

Satellites may be very useful for communications, navigation and other applications, but they're expensive to build and launch. That's why Thales Alenia Space is developing the StratoBus, an airship that can be launched like a regular blimp, but that will be able to hover in the stratosphere.

The UK Ministry of Defence has announced the Watchkeeper UAV has been awarded a Release To Service, clearing the way for flight training to begin with the Royal Artillery.