Thales

When you photograph an Airbus, the airline is on the vertical stabilizer, the engines may say CFM or Rolls-Royce – but nowhere does it say Thales. Yet the French electronics group is involved in a surprising number of places in your everyday spotting: in the cockpit of Airbus and ATR aircraft, in the software controllers use to guide traffic, in the radars and landing aids around the airport, on the screens in the cabin and in nearly every system of a Rafale. Thales is aviation’s classic background player. This page shows you where it hides and how you can recognize it anyway.

From Thomson-CSF to Thales

The history goes back a long way. In 1893 the Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston was founded in France, exploiting American electrical engineering patents. Its counterpart, CSF, was active in radio technology from 1918 and involved in early radar development. In 1968 the electronics division of Thomson-Brandt and CSF merged to form Thomson-CSF – the direct predecessor of today’s group.

In 1982 Thomson-CSF was nationalized and afterward focused more strongly on professional and military electronics. At the end of the 1990s came privatization and restructuring: defense activities of Alcatel, Dassault Électronique and Thomson-CSF were bundled. In June 2000 the company took over the British electronics group Racal, and in December 2000 it gave itself the new name Thales.

Since then the portfolio has shifted several times. In 2006/2007 Alcatel’s space division was added, in 2019 the security specialist Gemalto, and in 2023 the cybersecurity provider Imperva. Rail signaling, on the other hand, went to Hitachi Rail in 2024. Today Thales rests on three pillars: aerospace, defense, and cybersecurity and digital identity. In 2025 the group had revenue of about €22.1 billion, and at the end of 2024 around 83,000 people worked for it.

The state and Dassault as anchor shareholders

Thales is listed on the Paris stock exchange but shaped by two major shareholders: the French state and Dassault Aviation, which each held about 26.6 percent at the end of 2024. Dassault came in in 2008 when Alcatel sold its stake. The close tie explains why Thales and Dassault work so closely together on the Rafale fighter – more on that below.

Avionics: the cockpit behind the cockpit

The avionics business has a history of its own. In 1989 Thomson-CSF merged its aviation electronics with the companies Crouzet, EAS and SFENA to form Sextant Avionique; Thomson-CSF held two-thirds, Aérospatiale one-third. In 1999 Thomson-CSF took over the company completely, in 2001 it was called Thales Avionics, and since 2018 it has operated as Thales AVS France, based in Mérignac near Bordeaux – not far from Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport.

Thales supplies aircraft manufacturers with electronics for flight control, cockpit, navigation and satellite communications. A core concept is integrated modular avionics (IMA): instead of installing a separate computer for each function, many functions share standardized modules. Thales co-developed this principle for the Airbus A380; the A350 and the military transport A400M also fly with IMA architectures. Who exactly contributes which module to which type, however, is often a matter of individual contracts and can hardly be settled from the outside.

The situation is clearer at ATR. The turboprops ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 fly with Thales’s TopDeck avionics suite, which includes flight management system, control panels, displays and sensors. So when you photograph an ATR of the 600 series, there is very likely Thales technology behind the large cockpit windows. How to tell the generations apart from the outside is explained in the article Telling the ATR 42/72 and Dash 8 apart.

In competition, Thales mainly meets US groups like Honeywell Aerospace and Collins Aerospace, and in Europe partly Safran as well. Most recently Thales handed its electrical aircraft systems business over to Safran.

Air France 447: the pitot tube in the headlines

Once, a small Thales component was at the center of world attention. On June 1, 2009, an Airbus A330-200 of Air France on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic. It was fitted with Thales pitot tubes, with which the aircraft measures its speed. At high altitude they briefly iced over, the airspeed indications failed, and the crew subsequently lost control of the aircraft.

Even before the accident, Airbus had recommended replacing an older Thales model. After the crash, EASA ordered at the end of August 2009 that the pitot tubes on A330s and A340s be replaced mostly with probes from Goodrich. Important for context: the investigation saw a chain of causes, which also included reactions in the cockpit – the component alone does not explain the accident.

Air traffic control: Thales on the ground

For many professionals, Thales is above all a name in air traffic control. According to its own information, air navigation service providers in around 180 countries work with Thales technology, about 1,200 radars and around 10,000 navigation aids of the group are installed worldwide, and more than 160 air traffic control systems are in operation. According to company information, around 40 percent of the world’s airspace is managed with Thales solutions.

The centerpiece is TopSky, known as Eurocat until 2012. The software connects control units within a flight information region – tower, approach control and area control – into one system. It processes radar and ADS-B data, manages flight plans, supports the data link between controller and cockpit, and warns of conflicts, minimum safe altitude violations and emergency transponder codes. TopSky is used in Australia, Austria (for air traffic control there, see Austro Control and Skyguide), Belgium, Ireland, the UK, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

In Australia, Thales shows how far this can go: in 2018 the group won the contract for OneSKY, a system that merges the country’s civil and military air traffic control. In 2017 Thales also bought the British company Aveillant, which builds so-called holographic radars that can also detect small targets such as drones.

For you as a spotter this is more than background knowledge. The antennas at the runway end that are often in your approach photos are usually part of an instrument landing system – how that works is explained in ILS approach explained. What the transponders on board transmit and why you see aircraft on radar as a result is shown in Transponder Mode A, C and S and Flight tracking with ADS-B. Who in the control room is responsible for what is sorted out in the article Delivery, Ground, Tower, Approach, Center. And how air traffic control is organized in Germany and Europe is covered at DFS and Eurocontrol; the broad lines since the beginnings are summarized in the history of air traffic control.

In-flight entertainment: Thales in the cabin

The third civil focus is where passengers are most likely to notice it: on the screens in the seatback. Thales is among the big providers of in-flight entertainment systems. For a long time the market was considered the turf of a few companies, which besides Thales mainly included Panasonic Avionics and today’s Collins Aerospace.

In 2014 Thales expanded this business and bought JetBlue’s subsidiary LiveTV, based in Melbourne, Florida, for about $400 million. LiveTV was known for live satellite TV at the seat, movies and moving-map displays; customers included JetBlue, United, WestJet, Azul and Turkish Airlines. Today the trend is moving away from the pure screen toward connectivity: internet and streaming to your own device are now part of many long-haul flights.

For your sightings this is more bonus knowledge – from the outside you see at most antenna fairings for satellite connections on the top of the fuselage. Whether a particular aircraft has a Thales system on board depends on the airline and cabin version and can change with every retrofit. Why airplane mode still applies on board is explained in the article Why airplane mode?.

Rafale: where Thales becomes visible

In the military, Thales is easiest to grasp on Dassault’s Rafale. Nearly all the sensors of the French fighter come from Thales or were developed with Thales:

The targeting pods in particular are a nice detail for airshow photos. A Rafale with Damocles or TALIOS under the fuselage looks different from one in pure display configuration. You have good chances of seeing Rafale displays at big shows; the article Airshows in Europe provides an overview.

Thales is also a supplier for helicopters – the TopDeck avionics suite is available for the Sikorsky S-76, for example. On types from Airbus Helicopters or Leonardo, the equipment depends heavily on customer and version – research on the specific aircraft is worthwhile here.

Space: Thales Alenia Space

Beyond the atmosphere, Thales is active with Thales Alenia Space. The company, based in Cannes, was formed in 2007 after Thales took over Alcatel’s space stakes; Thales holds 67 percent, the Italian Leonardo group 33 percent. Together with the satellite service provider Telespazio, it forms the so-called Space Alliance.

Thales Alenia Space is known for contributions to the International Space Station, among other things – from the Cupola observation dome to the pressure structure of the European Columbus laboratory. Add ground segments for the European navigation system Galileo, weather satellites of the Meteosat series and communications satellites. In 2025, Thales, Airbus and Leonardo announced they would bundle their space activities, including Telespazio, in a new joint venture; this requires regulatory approvals.

Thales in Germany and Europe

Thales is a French group, but with strong footholds in several countries. In the UK the former Racal group forms the base, and in the Netherlands Thales Nederland builds radars in Hengelo – the company was formerly known as Signaal. In Germany, too, the group is represented with its own national subsidiary.

For aviation fans in France, two regions are worth a look. The avionics division is based around Bordeaux and Mérignac, and in Toulouse, home of Airbus and ATR, numerous suppliers work closely with the final assembly lines. At Toulouse-Blagnac Airport you see new aircraft from Airbus and ATR delivered with Thales technology; the Aeroscopia museum shows Airbus history up close, and tips for spotting there are in Plane spotting in Toulouse-Blagnac.

Where to experience Thales live

Because Thales technology is rarely openly visible, shows are the best place to experience it up close. The Paris Air Show at Le Bourget takes place every two years at Paris-Le Bourget Airport – there the group shows cockpits, radars and cabin systems, and a Rafale usually flies in the sky. The grounds also hold the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, whose collection you can also use as a spot at Le Bourget Airport. In Germany, ILA Berlin offers a similar stage.

In everyday life, a more conscious look is worthwhile. On your next visit at the runway end, pay attention to the antenna arrays of the instrument landing system, to the radar tower at the airport edge and to which types land in front of you. An ATR 72-600 of Air France or a regional airline, an A380 of Emirates or a Rafale at an airshow – everywhere Thales works behind the scenes.

Thales compared

Among aviation systems suppliers, Thales is one of the broadest. Safran is also French but focuses on engines, landing gear and cabin equipment. Honeywell Aerospace and Collins Aerospace compete directly with Thales in avionics and cabin systems. In Germany, Diehl Aviation is a partner and competitor in avionics and cabin. What sets Thales apart from all of them is the combination of cockpit, air traffic control, cabin, space and defense under one roof.

Conclusion

Thales is not a name you read on a vertical stabilizer – and yet one of aviation’s most important players. Descended from Thomson-CSF, the group supplies avionics for Airbus and ATR, air traffic control systems for a large part of the world’s airspace, in-flight entertainment for airlines and nearly all the sensors of the Rafale. Add space and defense.

For you as a spotter, Thales is above all a key to understanding: why an aircraft lands safely in fog, how the controller sees your subject on the screen and what works behind the cockpit windows of an ATR. If you know that, you look a little more closely at the next approach.