www.thalesgroup.

com

ADVANCED AIR DEFENCE

Better decisions,
better results
 Thales designs, develops and delivers defence systems based on latest generation modular technologies for
all the key market sectors we serve. These systems draw on our experience in critical software and hardware
architectures to provide the requisite levels of safety, security, real-time operations and complexity management.

ADVANCED AIR DEFENCE

COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS (C2)

WEAPON CO-ORDINATION MOBILE INTEGRATED WEAPON SYSTEMS

AIR SURVEILLANCE RADARS

THE CRITICAL DECISION CHAIN

By embedding all of our defence equipment and solutions within the critical decision chain, we enable
members of the armed forces, from front-line military personnel to senior commanders, to focus on their
core missions so that they can act as quickly as possible to deliver better results.

ADVANCED AIR DEFENCE

CONOPS
Command Secure data
Threat Decision Control of Deployment Results & Mission
and mission management evaluation
planning detection support engagement of responses assessments
& transmission

- Data network - Counteracting - Command and Control - Weapon systems

connectivity cyber electronic - Equipment systems - Operational capabilities
- Communications attack - Service

2 Advanced Air Defence

AdvAnced Air
defence SOLUTiOnS
SHAPed BY MiLiTArY needS
for more than 40 years, Thales has been developing,
manufacturing and providing best-in-class Air defence
systems for customers worldwide. We have been
working with our customers to address evolving
threats through Thales Advanced Air defence, an
integrated set of Thales, ThalesraytheonSystems and
third party system solutions that ensures timely
decision making and effective responses for the
protection of military forces, key assets, nations and
citizens around the globe.
Thales Advanced Air defence leverages all of the
technologies, innovations, solutions, services and
capabilities that have made us world-leaders in the
sector. More importantly, it is a step-change that has
been shaped by our response to, and anticipation
of, the challenges our customers face in today’s
environment. These challenges include:
– Proliferation of new airborne threats such as
missiles and UAvs and the increasing complexity
of the airspace
– combating new cyber threats
– integration and interoperability of Air defence
systems and operation in real time within
force structures
– Helping customers apply the right solutions within
demanding schedules and budgets.
Thales has extensive resources, people and capabilities
committed to helping decision-makers design and build
the right solutions that lead to better decisions and,
ultimately, better results for a safer world.
The key components of our capability:
SHIELD – Air and Missile defence Solutions
SKYVIEW – command and control Systems
CONTROL – Weapon co-ordination
GROUND – Air Surveillance radars
RAPID – Mobile integrated Weapon Systems
STAR – Missiles
– consultancy
– design and development
– Manufacture and integration
– Through-life support
– Upgrade and service packages.
A common platform of technologies and the
unparalleled interoperability of our equipment,
systems and solutions make Thales Advanced Air
defence a powerful and compelling proposition
for customers.
www.thalesgroup.com

“Thales Advanced Air Defence is aimed at providing our customers

with solutions and services that truly meet their needs.
We do this by applying all the technologies and innovations
that have made us world leaders in the sector.”

Advanced Air Defence 3

 WHY THALeS iS UniqUeLY
POSiTiOned TO AnSWer
YOUr reqUireMenTS
From early warning to threat neutralisation
Thales, as a worldwide Group, has a unique
capability to design, develop and deploy
equipment, systems and services that meet the most
complex security requirements. Thales Advanced Air
defence shares these Group attributes and our
mission is to focus on the decision-maker and the
capabilities and resources they require to deliver
superior outcomes.
Providing armed forces personnel throughout the
command structure with the decision-making and
information superiority they need is the primary driver
in creating our defence architectures.
We tailor Air and Missile defence solutions for each
government we work with based on their concept
of Operations (cOnOPS), existing defence assets
and current and future threats.
Our ‘system of systems’ integration capabilities support
our core philosophy – to design defence solutions
around cyber-secure open architectures – and this
ensures a flexibility of solution for our customers.
Providing full ‘plug and fight’ interoperability with
existing air defence assets is key, as is the ability
to enhance and upgrade systems to respond to
changing threats and to extend operational life.
Our proven defence systems and manufacturing
capability in ‘sensor to effector’ technologies is
second to none.
customers can also rely on us for through-life support
services that deliver ongoing solution optimisation;
on-specification, on-time delivery of the solution in the
battlefield; and the utilisation of technical manpower
‘on-location’ via a global network of support centres
that is operational and on call 24/7.

Unlike other Air defence prime contractors we apply

a highly collaborative and consultative approach to
creating the sophisticated defence systems needed to
combat the new and conventional threats arising in
both civil and military situations and environments.

Key numbers

No.1 >10
WORLDWIDE
MILLION SQUARE
KILOMETRES
> 300
AIR DEFENCE RADARS
in AIR C4I of European airspace delivered to
will be protected by 26 countries
our Air Command
and Control System
(LOC1) for NATO

4 Advanced Air Defence

 StateSHIELD
fully integrated airspace security solutions – from cOnOPS and
defence capability evaluation, through to solution design, build, supply
and integration with existing assets, and lifetime support worldwide.
SHieLd – Air And MiSSiLe
defence SOLUTiOnS
Complete airspace security solutions
Through the design, development and delivery of next
generation solutions built around flexible defence
architectures, Thales enhances the Air and Missile
defence capabilities of governments and forces
worldwide. Our solutions can adapt to changing
cOnOPS, enhances multi-mission capability,
and ensures the interoperability and integration of
new and existing military and civil assets.
By adopting a highly consultative approach, Thales
helps customers to evaluate their existing and future
cOnOPS and requirements to create optimised
air and missile defence solutions. Working
collaboratively with customers we use battlelab and
wargame based scenario planning to develop and
challenge solution alternatives and optimise designs.
With the increasing complexity of battle scenarios,
decision and information superiority are primary
drivers in creating our defence architectures.
Our understanding of our customers’ cOnOPS and
the nature of critical decisions enable Thales to
design solutions that deliver enriched information and
response options to decision-makers throughout the
command structure. Thales has developed a range
of “packaged modular solutions” referred to as
ZoneSHIELD
ForceSHIELD
“Thales SHieLd” to meet the wide ranging needs of Protects vital assets and areas
our Air defence customers. These solutions vary from against conventional and
asymmetric air attacks:
Thales StateSHieLd which will provide Air defence
for a nation or group of nations to Thales
forceSHieLd which will provide a tailored level of Thales StateSHIELD
Integrated Air and Missile
air defence for troops on manoeuvre. Defence of homeland or
overseas protectorates from
customers benefit from highly tailored Air and airborne attacks
Missile defence solutions assured they are future-
proofed and optimised to integrate defence assets Thales ZoneSHIELD
Area protection of vital assets
and deliver the capabilities required within budget.
against conventional and
asymmetric air attacks
Solutions are designed, integrated, supported and
upgraded utilising our unique breadth and depth of Thales ForceSHIELD
capability gained from the experience of working Protection of mobile troops on
with some of the world’s most advanced defence the battlefield or convoys and
supply lines in fighting areas
forces. They are optimised by selecting from the full
range of Thales, ThalesraytheonSystems and third
party systems – advanced radars, Air c4i systems, Thales CivilSHIELD
Protection of critical civil assets,
networked communications technologies, advanced events and civilian populations
precision weapons from gun and missile systems
through to directed energy weapons. Thales NavalSHIELD
Defence of naval convoys
The core architecture of the Thales Advanced and vessels against air attacks
including sea-skimming missiles
Air defence SHieLd enables Thales to work with
customers to proactively reassign, grow and upgrade
their solutions as cOnOPS, technology and
threats change.
Advanced Air Defence 5
COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS (C2)
ThalesraytheonSystems provides expertise and designs Air
c4i solutions to seamlessly integrate sensors and effectors
within a coherent and service-oriented architecture.
SKYvieW –
cOMMAnd And cOnTrOL SYSTeMS
ThalesraytheonSystems is the world leader in Air c4i systems. Building
on 45 years of accumulated experience, the company continues to
deliver fixed and deployable integrated Air and Missile defence
command and control systems to the world’s defence forces.
ThalesraytheonSystems develops, implements and maintains flexible
systems that can adapt to changing operational demands with seamless
planning and tasking, monitoring and the control and execution of the
full spectrum of Air and Missile defence operations.
SKYvieW is an open-architecture, Air c4i solution provided by
ThalesraytheonSystems. it delivers a single, integrated Air picture and
common situational awareness through command and control systems
that are both scalable and interoperable. With its embedded ’plug and
cOnTrOL –
WeAPOn cO - OrdinATiOn
Combined surveillance
and weapon co-ordination
comprising highly automated weapon
co-ordination systems and tactical air defence
radars, the Thales cOnTrOLMaster family
enhances the operational capabilities and
kill probability of any Air defence system.
Thales cOnTrOL ensures complete airspace
safety and weapon systems co-ordination.
6 Advanced Air Defence
fight‘ capability, SKYvieW enables customers to optimise their legacy
systems. it also enables operators to keep track of all Air assets, in
real time, to ensure that weapon systems are prepared to immediately
respond to threats. SKYvieW provides relevant capabilities to operate
24/7 protection of a zone, territory or country against all airborne
threats. The system coordinates all networked ground-to-air
defences such as vSHOrAdS, SHOrAdS and medium or long-range
weapon systems.
no project is too large or too complex for us to handle, for example,
the Air command and control System we developed for nATO is
a world first and the largest system of its kind to be delivered across
multiple nations.
it coordinates various weapon systems from Man-Portable Air-defence
Systems (MAnPAdS) and guns to extended range missiles and is able
to manage simultaneous multiple engagements – countering all types of
threats such as fighters, helicopters, cruise missiles and UAvs, in dense,
cluttered environments.
it is also able to use radar detection information to predict the impact
point of rocket, Artillery and Mortar (rAM) attacks, compute the launch
point and alert forces and civilians automatically. Another key
operational benefit is complete interoperability with higher levels of
command such as national or allied coalition Air defence networks.
WEAPON CO-ORDINATION
GrOUnd –
Air SUrveiLLAnce rAdArS
Expertise that covers all radar applications
Thales and ThalesraytheonSystems have invested
significantly in new radar technologies in recent
years; developing innovative air defence radar
systems that are capable of handling today’s and
tomorrow’s threats. The GrOUnd Master radars
are a family of versatile, multi-role air defence radars,
dedicated to the protection of key assets and forces
deployed in remote theatres. The GrOUnd Master
radars are specifically designed to meet the
following operational requirements: high detection
performance, high track accuracy, weapon
assignment, high operational availability and
simplified maintenance as well as high mobility.
The GrOUnd Master radar systems can detect a vast
array of modern-day threats, including UAvs, missiles,
mortars and rockets and at critical ranges and altitudes.
As military threats have evolved and become less
predictable, the accuracy and granularity of data
available from radars is increasingly important to
Our advanced radar systems provide critical
decision makers with the most detailed information
available about airborne threats and battlespace.
Units are readily integrated with existing systems
and supported by our worldwide service.
operators and decision-makers entrusted with the
protection of assets, passengers, civilians and armed
forces. The GrOUnd range of air surveillance radars
detect from very low to very high altitude against any
type of threat.
The best detection performance at the lowest
lifecycle costs
GM 400
3-D long-range radar
With a wealth of experience and hundreds of
military systems installed worldwide, Thales and
ThalesraytheonSystems offer customers the widest
portfolio of surface radars, fulfilling all operational
requirements for system integrators and end-users.
The result of major technological investment, the
GrOUnd radar range shares common architecture,
hardware and software modules, and common
interfaces. We believe we have set the new
industry benchmark in terms of performance, GM 200
multi-role 3D medium range
operational availability, compactness, modularity and short range air defence
and upgradeability. engagement radar
AIR SURVEILLANCE RADARS
Advanced Air Defence 7
 ready-to-deploy mobile integrated weapon systems –
offered as complete, fully integrated units, underpinned
by lifetime support worldwide.
rAPid – MOBiLe inTeGrATed
WeAPOn SYSTeMS
Greater mobility around the battlefield
Thales is a world-leading supplier of integrated
weapon systems such as the crotale family and the
STArStreak system which have been integrated into
a wide range of vehicle platforms for manoeuvre
forces across the world.
Our open systems architecture designs and
innovation have been used to develop the rAPid
Mobile integrated Weapon systems in which we
combine the most sophisticated sensors, fire control
software systems, latest generation human machine
interfaces and a wide range of weapons including
>450
missiles, guns and directed energy weapons.
Our rAPid systems are of modular design that
ensure that they can be tailored to customers needs
MOBILE INTEGRATED and cOnOPS to provide the most cost-effective
WEAPON SYSTEMS ‘sensor to effect’ capability. Another design driver is
to ensure that our rAPid systems can be upgraded
delivered to and supported easily by our customers and overseas
customers worldwide industrial partners.
8 Advanced Air Defence
MOBILE INTEGRATED WEAPON SYSTEMS
Thales RAPIDDefender
– fully integrated mobile SHOrAd system based
on crotale family (X000, nG, Mk3…) with c2
interfaces, surveillance radar, fire control and
missiles systems.
Thales RAPIDRanger
– High-mobility vSHOrAd systems including c2
interface, early warning sensor (optional), and the
STArStreak missile and associated guidance and
control interfaces.
Thales RAPIDSeaGuardian
– naval-based SHOrAd system integrated with
on-board weapon and fire control sensors and
systems to provide quick reaction defence against
in-coming aircraft and sea-skimming missile threats.
Thales RAPIDFire
– new mobile gun or gun/missile system to provide
close-in protection against air and ground threats.
Thales RAPIDFlash
– new mobile weapon system concept integrating laser
directed energy effects with sensors and fire control to
provide low cost kill of low value aerial targets.
STAr – MiSSiLeS
Fastest missiles in their class
A world leader for over 50 years in the design and
manufacture of high precision Air defence missiles
and fire control systems, Thales has established a
heritage of industry hallmarks such as Seacat,
Tigercat, Blowpipe, Javelin and Starburst.
Our current Thales STAr missiles, vT1 and STArStreak
are the fastest SHOrAd and vSHOrAd missiles in the
world today and this recognizes the key time critical
requirement of short range air defence. in addition to
the shortest time to target vT1 and STArStreak operate
on “line of sight” guidance principles that means that
the operator is assured that the missile can be launched
as soon as the threat is identified, and then will guide
to the designated targets.
High-velocity, counter-measure proof missiles and
fire control systems ready-to-integrate to a wide variety of platforms.
Unlike higher cost seeker based missile systems vT1
and StarStreak:
– do not require seeker cool-down and lock-on time
before launch
– cannot be decoyed by countermeasures
>70,000
– do not require any regular maintenance and support
MISSILES
– can be cut down in flight if required. supplied to
over 20 nations
vT1 – SHOrAd missile that can be launched by
Thales rAPiddefender and Thales rAPid
SeaGuardian systems. MAcH 3.5 velocity with rf
all weather guidance and range of 15km.
STArStreak – vSHOrAd missile can be launched
from the Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML) and
Thales rAPidranger. Greater than MAcH 3
velocity, triple dart configuration for highest levels of
lethality and range of >7km.
cost of ownership is low as the missiles require no
maintenance through life, they have a minimum 15yr
shelf life and high reliability is assured – meeting strict
and exacting qualification standards including
insensitive Munitions compliance.
Advanced Air Defence 9
 OUr APPrOAcH
Our collaborative process ensures a tailormade outcome
Thales is vastly experienced in the integration of complex
systems for Air defence. We are engaged in developing advanced
air-defence solutions for governments worldwide.
Typically, long before an Air defence programme is formally started,
we support our customers in defining their requirements, using various
operational analysis tools, in order to establish and share a common
understanding of threats and missions. Through an interactive and
collaborative process, including battlelab and wargame scenario
testing, we progressively develop an optimised architecture, mixing
legacy and new assets in order to fulfil the operational objectives.
This use of architecture patterns then enables us to propose
a customised solution, suited to the country’s specific geography
and military organisation, within a very short time.
The preferred architecture is selected after evaluation of its efficiency
in various operational scenarios, taking into account critical
evaluation criteria. in parallel with defining the architecture, we are
able to propose an incremental acquisition and integration process
in order to deliver operational capabilities in line with budget plans.
Thales also provides full training of the customer’s personnel and
actively supports the transition to operational service, as well as
system in-service support.

Innovative concept development Upstream studies

Design
– Requirements capture
& Modelling
– Re-use
Identification Experimentation
– Context – Running
– Objectives Assessment – De-risking
– Success critical – Tuning

– Trade-offs
– Decision
making support

Solutions & Guidelines

Collaborative & flexible

10 Advanced Air Defence

 ABOUT
ABOUT THALeS THALeSrAYTHeOnSYSTeMS

• As one of the world’s largest defence companies, Thales designs
and delivers defence systems for all four environments: air, land,
sea and space. These systems detect and assess threats, manage
information, support rapid command decisions and control
engagements through to threat neutralisation, with maximum
reliability. They are designed to simplify the coordination of assets
deployed by joint and/or coalition forces and contribute to
information and decision superiority.
•The strategic defence partner of governments and forces
worldwide, Thales adopts a highly collaborative approach to
enhancing Air and Missile Defence capabilities. From a thorough
understanding of customers’ defence objectives and CONOPS,
and the nature of emerging threats – we design and deliver tailored
and optimised defence solutions from full defence architectures to
a range of advanced precision effects.
ThalesRaytheonSystems is an international
company specializing in Air Defence systems,
Command and Control systems, 3D air
defence radars and battlefield and weapon
locating radars. Since its founding in 2001,
ThalesRaytheonSystems has become one of
the Defence industry’s most successful
transatlantic joint ventures. The company
employs 1,600 people and is equally owned
by Raytheon and Thales.
www.thalesraytheon.com

•With design and manufacture capability from sensor to effector, no

other European defence integrator has greater in-depth knowledge
and control over the advanced technologies required to create the
sophisticated defence systems needed to enhance critical decision-
making and deal with new and conventional threats faced in both
civil and military applications.

•Thales is a prime contractor for advanced Air and Missile Defence

capabilities to the French and UK MODs, NATO allies, and other
major foreign MODs around the world.

•Thales has 67,000 locally-based employees working in 56 countries.

Advanced Air Defence 11

Parc tertiaire Silic
3, avenue Charles Lindbergh, BP 20351
94628 Rungis Cedex
FRANCE
Tel: + 33 (0)1 79 61 40 00

Alanbrook Road
Belfast
BT6 9HB www.thalesgroup.com
Tel: +44 (0) 2890 465200