Thales Demos Drone Swarms with Different Levels of Autonomy

Thales has demonstrated the potential of deploying swarms of drones with varying levels of autonomy.

Autonomous functionality optimised by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and intelligent agents reduces the cognitive load on operators yet ensures that they remain in control at all times, particularly during critical mission phases.

In this latest step in its Drone Warfare strategy, Thales and its partners are applying the principles of interoperability and integration to improve the coordination of drone swarms for deployment on a wide range of mission types.

To meet the requirements of the armed forces, Thales is proposing an innovative AI-based system architecture that provides drone swarms with an unparalleled level of supervised autonomy and enables them to adapt their behaviour to changing operational requirements.

The operational value of drones on the battlefield is now firmly established, but their effectiveness is still limited by two factors: they usually require one operator per drone, and a secure, resilient datalink must be available throughout the mission.

Flight tests organised for the JDEC demonstrations on 16th October 2024 turned the spotlight on the latest breakthroughs by Thales and its partners in their efforts to overcome these limitations and support drone swarm operations tailored to military requirements. In the tests, Thales’s COHESION demonstrator showed how AI and intelligent agents can be used to achieve an unparalleled level of autonomous operation in drone swarm deployments.

The system architecture of the COHESION demonstrator enables operators to adapt the level of autonomy of their drone swarms to the operational requirements of each phase of the mission. This new possibility offers an unprecedented level of flexibility in contested environments, where electronic warfare measures can saturate communication systems and jam datalinks that rely on GNSS signals. Autonomous operation by single drones and/or entire swarms overcomes the need for a permanent datalink with the control station. The drones are capable of perceiving and analysing their local environment, sharing target information, analysing enemy intent and prioritising missions. They can also utilise collaborative tactics and optimise their trajectories to increase resilience and boost force effectiveness, helping to accelerate the OODA loop and enhance battlefield transparency.

This innovative approach acts as a force multiplier without increasing the cognitive load on operators, who remain in charge of the most critical decisions. The use of trusted, cybersecure, human-in-the-loop AI guarantees safe human supervision at all times, in line with Thales’s principles of TrUE AI.

Hervé Dammann, Thales Executive Vice President, Land and Air Systems, said; “We are proud to be developing innovative solutions aligned with strong ethical values. Our solutions are demonstrable, applicable, incremental and deployable, acting as a force multiplier without increasing the cognitive burden on operators, yet guaranteeing that they retain their central role in the decision-making process.”