Bursts boosted with artificial intelligence, denoising of communications… Thales accelerates in defense AI

Aurélien Fleurot // GEORGES GOBET / AFP 8:51 a.m., March 31, 2024

AI, the essential new weapon of war. Artificial intelligence is investing in all areas and defense is obviously no exception. The Thalès group is accelerating the development of AI, in direct connection with the French army, while the Ministry of the Armed Forces has just launched a ministerial agency for defense artificial intelligence, Amiad. Some projects are at the research stage, others are much more advanced. 

From 2026, the new Rafale range will be boosted with artificial intelligence. The target search will be done much more quickly, explains this AI expert from the Thales group. "We do not claim to be better than humans in terms of ability to see a target but on the other hand it goes much faster, it is a gain of a factor of 100. The pilot, the crew is the only master on board , it is he who confirms the identification and who decides whether to engage in combat or not,” he explains to Europe 1. 

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An intelligent assistant 

For pilots, AI acts as a super assistant which can also improve the quality of radio transmissions. Technological advances make it possible to suppress the noise of shots or explosions to guarantee perfect understanding of transmissions in critical moments. “The more sensors we have, the more data we have and the more a form of information deluge hits operators, whether in an air patrol plane or in a command and operations center. And there, AI allows us to process a huge number of data sources. It is becoming a kind of decision-making aid,” indicates Philippe Keryer, Deputy General Manager, Strategy and Technology at Thales. 

Soon, AI will allow an operator to control a swarm of drones and not just one as now, or to improve maritime surveillance to detect a suspicious boat in a few seconds.