France orders 21 new TALIOS target pods from Thales

The French General Armaments Directorate (DGA) placed a firm order with Thales for 21 additional TALIOS modules. The new target designation pods will equip Rafale aircraft currently in service with the French Air and Space Force and the French Navy, and future Rafale F4s.

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Thales reports that this order for 21 additional pods underscores the continued confidence of the French forces, which have deployed TALIOS multiple times on expeditionary missions since the first pods were delivered in 2019.

The new pods will be delivered between 2024 and 2025, just after fulfilling the initial order for 46 TALIOS systems. This order, worth €100 million, includes additional initial support resources.

The DGA reported that this contract was made possible through the use of extra-budgetary resources generated by the transfer to Croatia, at the end of 2021, of Rafale aircraft from the Air and Space Forces fleet.

Capabilities of the new TALIOS

In an increasingly connected operational environment, the TALIOS module will enable future Rafale F4 aircraft to perform both aerial reconnaissance and ground/surface attack missions.

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The module provides wide-area target search and identification capability and can instantly switch to target acquisition and tracking mode. Its high-resolution sensors provide a color image of the tactical situation to simplify the Rafale pilots’ tasks.

Since the launch of the TALIOS program, the pod has undergone a series of capability enhancements. For the latest versions of the pod, Thales has developed a new operational mode called Vision Permanent, which superimposes real-time video on a 3D map of the operational environment, allowing aircrews to observe and understand the tactical situation in significantly less time.

«The TALIOS pod’s new reconnaissance modes and automatic target detection and recognition algorithms will provide the French armed forces with an unprecedented level of operational superiority. Rafale pilots will be able to make better decisions with even greater speed at every decisive moment of their missions to detect, classify and safely engage a target and assess the results of a ground or surface strike.» Christophe Salomon, Executive Vice President, Land and Air Systems, Thales

The TALIOS designation pod will also incorporate artificial intelligence algorithms to provide an unprecedented level of assistance in target detection and recognition and further accelerate the decision-making process, especially in high-intensity engagements.