Ali Omar

In conjunction with the activities of the “IDEX and NAVDEX 2025” exhibitions in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, Security and Defense Arabia conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Hervé Dammann, Executive Vice President of Land and Air Systems, Thales Group, to explore the company’s initiatives to enhance air defense systems to confront threats and its efforts in developing radar technology, in addition to land and air systems.

In this exclusive interview, Dammann highlights the role of artificial intelligence and quantum computing technologies in achieving military superiority, and provides an overview of the next generation of land and air systems that Thales is working on in light of technological development, in addition to the latest developments in radar technology that the company offers to improve these systems and provide protection from modern threats. Below is the interview text:

• What are the latest advancements in radar technology that Thales provides, and how do these innovations enhance defense and security systems and provide protection against modern threats?

Thales has been at the forefront of radar technology for many years, continually innovating to provide advanced solutions that meet the modern demands of defense systems and the ever-changing landscape of threats (fast and low speed).

As a pioneer in AESA* technology for more than 10 years, we have developed in the field combat proven 4D AESA radars (otherwise known as Dual Axis Multi-beam radars), that provide maximum Time-On-Target enabling fast, precise detection of very small targets in cluttered environments, such as drones.

In addition, all our air surveillance radars share the same software defined architecture radars, a combination resulting in an easy upgrade to meet evolving threats such as drones or hypervelocity targets. Furthermore, this extremely modular architecture brings the advantage of providing clients with existing radars such as the GM200, with the capability to upgrade to the GM 200 MM/A for example.

The use of AI will further enhance the classification capabilities of our air surveillance e.g. providing a fast distinction between birds and small UAVs.

• With air threats increasing, how have Thales’ air defense systems evolved to address emerging and sophisticated threats? And what is the importance of integrated solutions that Thales offers in responding to these threats?

Unsolicited insertions in the airspace mean that nations need solutions to protect and defend their airspace. Thales is able to support nations by providing systems to maintain their airspace sovereignty with integrated air defense and air surveillance solutions that can provide integrate air picture. 

We support forces to address new threats at all layers of the airspace – from very low altitude threats such as drone threats to hypersonic missiles. Thales offers solutions addressing the full decision chain enabling forces to provide the best response to address a threat; detecting threats with our radars, identifying them with integrated Command and Control systems providing integrated air pictures, and neutralizing them with state of the art effectors.

With our solutions we provide the most accurate response to each threat, in increasingly complex battlefields and we enable forces to make the fastest decisions that provide operational superiority in the battlefield.

• Could you provide an overview of the next generation of land and air systems that Thales is developing? And how do you envision the future of these systems in the context of rapidly evolving technologies?

Thales continually invests in research and development to enhance its capabilities in air defense and surveillance systems capabilities. Thales invest 4 billion Euros in R&D.

This includes advancements in technologies that cover the full decision chain for instance in detection with radar systems and sensor technologies, in identification with integrated command and control systems and related data, and neutralization of threats with next-generation effectors.

Thales integrated new technologies in Air Defense systems such as artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to gain operational superiority by accelerating the decision chain.

• How can quantum computing revolutionize the capabilities of land and air systems? And how does Thales leverage artificial intelligence to enhance the effectiveness of defense and surveillance systems?

AI and quantum contribute to accelerate of the OODA loop, in other words the decision chain, and to provide superiority on the battlefield.

Quantum technologies will respond to two main challenges: complexity that cannot be addressed through classical computing, the need for simulation for which the acceleration of quantum technology is a real gain.

AI enhances Air defense systems multiplying by 3 the threat detection.in addition, hybrid systems will combine classical computing AI, and quantum computing.

In the future, hybrid Air defense systems will enable to process both data-driven AI technology and hybrid AI adapted to critical systems to propose the most effective responses to neutralize threats – it will increase speed, precision, and the ability to handle complexity at all levels of the decision chain: detection, tracking, identification, and neutralization.

The integration of AI and Quantum technologies will enable to improve the detection and tracking of objects from low levels of the airspace such as drones to very fast new threats such as hypersonic and hyper-maneuvering threats thanks to the processing of vast amounts of data provided by sensors/radars or satellites for example – simultaneously and in real time.

These technologies will also enable to reconfigure in real-time C4I systems to have a more accurate picture of the air picture.