12 June 2009
Paris, 12 June 2009 - Thales is proud to officially become a member of the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking (JU), a unique public-private partnership in Air Traffic Management (ATM) research and development founded by the European Commission and Eurocontrol. Thales signed the JU Membership Agreements on June 4th 2009. Following a call for tender, Thales has been awarded funding from the SESAR JU of around 120M€ for the development phase, making it the largest contributor (after Eurocontrol).
In the SESAR development phase, Thales will now participate, under the supervision of the SESAR JU, in all the work packages and in about 130 out of the nearly 200 individual projects already attributed.
Thales has been selected to co-lead the 3 work packages dedicated to the development of the new generation of Air Traffic Control systems, of the System Wide Information management system, which will be the backbone of the European ATM network, and of Communication - Navigation – Surveillance technologies. It will bring a major contribution to the work packages dedicated to aircraft avionics systems and airport systems. The Group will also bring its expertise to the work packages dedicated to the definition and validation of the concepts of operations and operational procedures, and will actively participate in the definition of the overall “system of systems” architecture.
Thales fully shares the SESAR objectives to perform the major technology breakthroughs necessary to reach the performance objectives set by the European Union, to fulfil airspace users’ needs, to achieve the much desired system harmonisation at European level, and to ensure global interoperability.
As a world leader in ATM, onboard electronics and critical systems, and through its experience in large R&D programmes, Thales has continuously played a leading role in the SESAR programme since its creation. The Group’s wide and coherent range of systems and facilities are made available to meet common objectives for both national and European initiatives, in particular the Airlab* simulation environment.
Richard Deakin, Senior Vice President and Head of Thales in charge of Air Systems Division, stated: “Thales is honoured to have been selected by the SESAR JU to play the leading industrial role in the development phase. We have been heavily involved in SESAR since the beginning and have always worked closely with the European Commission and Eurocontrol. As a member of SESAR, Thales is fully committed to the modernisation of European air traffic management systems by coordinating and concentrating all relevant research and development efforts in Europe.”
Thales’s unique expertise spans all segments of the future ATM network, including Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems, onboard electronics, airport systems, satellite solutions, communication equipment and networks, navigation, surveillance, and more generally safety and security mission critical systems or “systems of systems”. Designed to respond to customer needs, Thales’s latest generation systems and technology are geared towards SESAR requirements and objectives, while setting the bases towards global interoperability.
About SESAR
The programme’s objective is to provide technological solutions in the area of ATM in order to successfully meet the requirements of Single European Sky legislation. While the Single European Sky will provide a revised legal framework for more efficient, performance driven, safer and greener procedures in European air traffic, the SESAR programme will deliver technological solutions, functionalities, systems and standards for deployment in Europe.
* Airlab
Airlab, a collaborative environment in which key players in the air transport sector can interact, is a vital component of Thales’s forward-planning strategy. This technical and operational simulation facility for civil air transport makes air segment and avionics functions available to crewmembers so that they can complete their mission from departure to arrival gate.
Airlab puts into practice exchanges that are needed to ensure effective cooperation between the ground and air segments. It combines (flight management, airport navigation, and environmental monitoring, etc.) systems with the ground segment and its three components: (air traffic control, control tower and ground operations).
Airlab provides a critical step in Thales’s validation of new navigation concepts and is making a valuable contribution in support of the two major European initiatives in the civil aviation sector: the SESAR (Single European Sky Air traffic management Research) programme and the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative.
Press Contacts
Thales, Air Systems
Matt Pothecary
Tel: +33 (0) 1 79 61 18 07
matt.pothecary@thalesgroup.com
Thales, Corporate Communications
Caroline Philips
Tel: +33 (0) 1 57 77 86 26
caroline.philips@thalesgroup.com