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Two of Europe’s leading providers of aircraft self-protection systems have joined forces to address near-term requirements – and prepare themselves to counter the threats of the future.
Signed at the Farnborough air show on 11 July, the memorandum of understanding between Elettronica and Thales will “explore joint initiatives and pursue growth business opportunities in the electronic warfare [EW] segment”, the companies say.
The firms have cooperated on military programmes including naval vessels and Dassault’s Mirage 2000-9 fighter for 20 years, and the former holds a 33.3% stake in its Italian partner. “By grouping our forces, this is probably the largest EW pool in Europe,” notes Thales chief executive Patrice Caine, who adds: “this is business- and technology-driven.”
For Elettronica chief executive Enzo Benigni, the development brings together the combined technical, engineering and industrial capabilities of both companies – something that he says will reduce risk and cost. “Sometimes the cost kills us more than the competition,” he notes.
The first product of their cooperation is a modular system called Cybele, with applications for military helicopters and fixed-wing transports. Launched at the show, this will combine existing EW systems in their existing portfolios, including missile and laser warning systems, active jamming technology and directional infrared countermeasures. They also are working on a new expendable active decoy named SPARC, which has already been involved in laboratory testing and could be ready for production in around one year.
Under the agreement, the companies also will prepare a capability roadmap for research and development activities stretching 10 years into the future.
Source: Flight Daily News
