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News Releases

October 2009

Thales and ONERA sign cooperation agreement on new surface wave radar

12 October 2009 - Thales and Onera, the leading aerospace research organisation in France, have signed a cooperation agreement on surface wave radars. As part of the initiative, the two partners will be combining their scientific, technical and business expertise to provide the coastal surveillance export market with a new radar, the Coastwatcher 200.

A surface wave radar for maritime surveillance

With its over-the-horizon detection capabilities, the surface wave radar is ideal for monitoring large maritime areas, including Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Recently extended out to 200 nautical miles from its coast, an EEZ is a sea zone where economic activity is managed by the coastal state(s) and over which these states have sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the resources (fishing quotas, illegal imports, etc.) and people (illegal immigration, etc.).
 
The Coastwatcher 200, built using innovative technologies and algorithms developed exclusively by Onera, offers far superior performance to existing surface wave radars and features a wealth of specific functions for maritime surveillance missions.

This agreement is part of a concerted move by Thales and Onera to take their cooperation to the next level by adding innovative high-tech solutions to a series of already successful collaborations in the sensors and detection systems sector.

For Onera, the project offers an opportunity to maximise the know-how it has acquired over 20 years of research and experience in low band radars.

According to Jean-Paul Bruyant, Head of Defence Systems Development at Onera: "Onera is proving that it is capable of creating, commissioning and deploying a surface wave radar. This agreement also demonstrates Onera’s ongoing commitment to advancing business relations with prominent industry players like Thales.”

For Thales, the goal is to respond to immediate coastal surveillance requirements by providing the market with a surface wave radar that combines dedicated features and proven target detection capabilities.

Jean-Loïc Galle, Managing Director of Thales’s Surface Radar business, explains: "With the Coastwatcher 200, we can offer customers an integrated, end-to-end coastal surveillance solution, covering anti-intrusion through to beyond-the-horizon detection. This device is the latest addition to Thales’s existing range of X-band coastal radars (Coastwatcher 100, Coastwatcher 10)."

About Thales

Thales is a global technology leader serving the Aerospace, Defence, Security and Transportation markets worldwide. In 2008, the company generated revenues of €12.7 billion with 68,000 employees in 50 countries. With its 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design, develop and deploy equipment, systems and services that meet the most complex security requirements. Thales has an exceptional international footprint, with operations around the world working with customers as local partners. www.thalesgroup.com

About Onera

Onera is the leading aerospace and defence research & technology organisation in France. Established in 1946, it is a state-owned body reporting to the French Ministry of Defence. With over 2,000 employees and more than 200 PhD and postdoctoral researchers, Onera draws on its multidisciplinary expertise and test centre facilities unrivalled in Europe to serve public agencies, large industrial groups and small and medium sized businesses and industries. Thanks to its unique research partnership model, with five times more contract business per researcher than the average in its sector, Onera generated business volumes of €202 million in 2008. A proven source of innovation, expertise and long-term vision, Onera has contributed to some of the most significant achievements in today’s aerospace sector, including Ariane5, the Airbus and Eurocopter range of products, Rafale and Falcon 7X.