INNOVATION, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Mastering complexity

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1 /////////////////// INNOVATION, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Mastering complexity

2 MASTERING COMPLEXITY In a world that is increasingly interconnected, the systems used by defence and commercial enterprises to deliver outcomes are increasingly complex. Thales has a proud history delivering these systems, and our commitment to excellence in innovation, research and development (R&D) is the foundation for mastering complexity to enable our customers success. Around the world, 22,500 engineers and scientists work on cutting edge technologies, generating around 300 inventions every year, adding to a portfolio of over 15,000 patents. We devote over A$4 billion annually to R&D, and have facilities to rival the world s best research universities. Technical innovation does not happen in isolation, and Thales has more than 30 cooperation agreements with universities and public research laboratories in Europe, the United States and Australasia. This wide-ranging commitment and successful track record place Thales at the forefront of R&D in technologies that provide the foundation for delivery of mission critical systems, now and in the future. 2

3 Delivering Australian capability Thales Australia is one of the company s largest country organisations, with more than 1,000 engineers delivering mission critical solutions in both defence and commercial sectors. The solutions we deliver are characterised by complexity many subcomponents interacting to support our customers in performing complex, information rich and mission critical tasks. technology is enabling new ways for the ADF to deliver effects. Thales has the capability to not only deliver the enabling technology, but to also support the ADF in evolving its operational concepts through experimentation facilities such as the Australian Transformation and Innovation Centre (ATIC). We are one of very few companies in Australia with the expertise and infrastructure to develop and deliver complex systems that push the boundaries of technological excellence. This superior track record is the result of research covering a wide range of areas, from sonar to air traffic control software to protected mobility vehicles and much more besides. As technologies converge and mission critical solutions become more complex, Thales is wellplaced to offer customers innovative solutions underpinned by our capabilities in systems, as well as the technology base of Thales globally. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the defence domain, where the Australian Defence Force is transforming itself by implementing the tenets of network centric warfare (NCW). The pervasive application of information and communications 3

4 Unparalleled global expertise Designing and developing the mission critical systems that underpin the company s leadership in the aerospace, space, defence and security markets calls for mastery of increasingly sophisticated technologies and the ability to integrate these technologies within large-scale software-driven systems. Thales brings to bear its global reach in a distributed community of scientists and engineers who are in touch with both lead users and research pioneers, wherever they reside. This network, or innovation ecosystem, allows us to blend technology and market perspectives to anticipate the solutions of the future. The network is animated by a principle of knowledge sharing, a core Thales value. The second objective of Thales s research is to provide the best tools and methods to design, test and develop complex systems, large-scale system-level software and critical embedded applications. The third key area is system security and intelligence, including internet security, signal and image processing, data fusion, data mining and micro- and nanoelectronics for microwave and optoelectronics applications. Thales has an exceptional pool of research talent, and recruits engineers and scientists from the world s most highly regarded universities and scientific organisations. Thales s research efforts are focused on three core objectives: The first is to develop new concepts for systems and products, beginning with knowledge sharing, medium to long term technical and operational analysis, and culminating in technology demonstrators or simulations. The network centric systems that are the driving force behind this research are transforming both the commercial sector and the world of defence NCW. 4

5 Our approach to innovation With the pace of technological change and globalisation of the world market, customers are finding increasing options to meet their needs, whether through new technology or companies expanding their global reach. To continue meeting our customers needs we are embracing innovation as the core of our operating mindset, not only in technology but across all activities. Thales innovates to reduce costs and optimise operations, to deliver leading edge functionality, and to achieve speed to market. Thales fosters technical innovation through its investment in R&D and all its associated elements, including partnerships with universities, research organisations and small to medium enterprises (SMEs). Second is the innovation intervention, a marketdriven approach that takes key market opportunities, assembles a cross functional team and challenges them to find a solution. Studying cases from other industries is a key component of this approach. The result is a combination of rigorous thinking, creativity and problem-solving with structured processes and teamwork to deliver innovative solutions to a wide range of customers. A key action that reinforces the culture of innovation is the Innovation Awards program conducted at both a country and global level. These annual awards recognise employees creative ideas, projects and initiatives that are in line with the company s business strategy, goals and values often involving the development of an innovative technology that helps Thales enter new markets. Innovation is also driven by taking a market view. Through its strategy planning processes, Thales analyses how markets and customer needs are evolving, and how solutions can be developed to meet them. Two significant initiatives foster technical and market-driven innovation. Innovation funds have been established to provide internal seed funding to explore and elaborate innovative ideas that may spring from any level in the company, and often outside normal planning processes. 5

6 A proven track record Thales Australia s commitment to research, development and innovation stretches back many years and covers a wide range of technologies. Achievements across the business include: Command and control, and mission management Joint Command Support System (JCSS) Llama/Cheetah situation awareness solution Special Operations Command Support System (SOCSS) Australian Distributed Architecture Combat System (ADACS) Army Aviation Ground Mission Management System (GMMS) Communications and network solutions Armed reconnaissance helicopter communications control module Maritime Tactical Wide Area Network (MTWAN) Underwater sensing and mine countermeasures Barra sonobuoy Towed arrays Seismic sensors Minehunting sonar Rassputin monostatic sonobuoy Fibre laser sensor Australian Minesweeping System (AMAS) Force protection Surveillance, countermeasures and weapons systems integration Bushmaster Armoured Patrol Vehicle Bushmaster Copperhead Armoured Combat Support Vehicle Survivability enhancement kits Large scale systems integration FFG Upgrade Rail communications and surveillance systems Air traffic control Air traffic control systems for Australia and abroad Next generation EUROCAT air traffic management display Central airspace management unit 6

7 Investing in the future ATIC & NEWLab Thales Australia is committed to staying at the forefront of emerging technologies, managing their integration into complex mission systems and understanding how these advances can transform the way our customers do business. To this end, Thales in Australia has invested in research capabilities such as the Australian Transformation and Innovation Centre, known as ATIC, and the Network Enabled Warfare Laboratory (NEWLab). Exploiting advanced simulation, gaming technology and 3D graphics, ATIC allows the creation of virtual representations of solutions. Not only does this provide a means to demonstrate and experiment with new technology concepts, it enables new ways of working to be trialled and evaluated, in partnership with our customers. NEWLab provides an environment where actual equipment is integrated to evaluate the performance of solution concepts, including their architectural foundations. With a strong focus on communications technology, NEWLab takes an additional step beyond ATIC towards solution realisation. By linking ATIC and NEWLab, Thales has the capability to experiment with our customers and technology partners in rich and realistic scenarios that capture the true performance capabilities of key enabling building blocks. This ability to coevolve technology and business processes is at the heart of the transformation our customers are seeking to give them the operational edge. ATIC provides part of the answer to the question of finding better ways to meet the mission critical systems needs of our customers. But sometimes deeper studies and analyses need to be undertaken, and the performance of actual technologies taken into account. 7

8 The right processes, the right tools To master complexity and assure the performance of mission critical systems demands the right processes supported by the right tools. Chorus is the Thales reference system that provides a common and efficient way of working across the globe. A common approach enables work to be shared across distributed teams, and then seamlessly brought together into complex solutions. management, Orchestra enhances efficiency and process compliance while freeing development teams to focus on designing, innovating and delivering quality. By embracing best practice, including the requirements of the Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI), Chorus contributes to risk reduction and achievement of cost and schedule performance. Driving performance and innovation in software and systems engineering is Orchestra, an integrated suite of state-of-the-art engineering tools. The Orchestra Engineering Desk provides a portal to access project engineering data and the tools required to perform assigned tasks. Data is created once and accessed by teams wherever they reside. It is a key enabler of distributed engineering and making best use of Thales s global capability. Orchestra embraces a model-driven approach to engineering, which supports solution verification at each level of elaboration. By supporting workflow 8

9 Continuous Learning Building Intellectual Capital The value Thales offers its customers is embodied in the intellectual capital of its employees. With technology evolving at an ever increasing rate, the ability to benefit our customers demands that Thales embraces continuous learning. Sharing knowledge is a key value of Thales, and Thales University is a key tool in realising this value and creating a culture of continuous learning. In support of this objective Thales has established Thales University, a learning and development centre of excellence. The Sydney campus is part of a global network of seven campuses that offers a wide range of courses boosting technical skills while developing the culture of innovation. The learning priorities of the company are reflected in the training offerings of Thales University. The current curriculum is focused on improving capability in the following four strategic areas: Management and change Project management and business process Marketing and sales Systems, software and transverse technologies (SSTT) The SSTT area includes courses covering systems engineering, software architecture and technologies, and Orchestra for software and systems. There are also courses relating to human systems integration, as well as model driven engineering. 9

10 Partnering for success Thales enjoys long-term and highly productive relationships with a variety of agencies, institutions, educational establishments and technology providers, including SMEs. In Australia, we have a longstanding Strategic Research & Development Alliance with the Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) that has seen collaborative research in the areas of underwater sensing, mine countermeasures and energetic materials. Through the Capability Technology Demonstrator program Thales and DSTO have demonstrated a number of significant concepts such as the fibre laser sensor, a breakthrough technology that enables development of undersea arrays that are much lighter and easier to handle and deploy than existing systems. These external relationships strengthen ties with government, academia and other organisations, enabling the sharing of knowledge and the development of new technologies in increasingly complex fields. Thales is a foundation member of the Defence Materials Technology Centre where, in collaboration with leading Australian universities, public sector research organisations and our supply chain partners, new and improved armour solutions will enhance the capability of Thales s protected mobility vehicles. In 2008 an Information Sharing Agreement was signed with New Zealand s Defence Technology Agency. 10

11 CASE STUDY Air traffic control The system, consisting of four million lines of code, The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS) processes and fuses all real-time aircraft position is the centrepiece of Australia s air traffic and data transmitted over dedicated communication airspace management. networks, and then displays the right data at the right time to air traffic controllers equipped with TAAATS is based on Thales s EUROCAT technology, large LCD screens and ground to air communication and comprises a single integrated nationwide system devices. for the management of aircraft movements over an area larger than the whole of Europe 56 million The system features sophisticated tools and aids square kilometres equivalent to 11% of the world s to avoid breaches of separation between aircraft surface. and allow the right human-based decisions to be made at all times, enabling the highest air travel This includes radar controlled airspace, continental safety standards to be met. It provides a fail-safe non-radar airspace and oceanic airspace, and covers architecture designed to guarantee an uninterrupted every civilian aircraft flight in Australian airspace. air traffic control service 24 hours a day every day. The radar network includes 23 towers extending Following successful delivery and commissioning in down the east coast of Australia and to other major Australia s two designated main Air Control Centres cities. (Brisbane and Melbourne) and four Approach In 1994 Airservices Australia, the government authority responsible for administering Australia s sovereign airspace, awarded Thales the contract to develop TAAATS. Shortly afterwards, Thales s Air Systems Division was established in Melbourne to research, design and develop the required system. Thales delivered the first operational version of its new generation EUROCAT system to Airservices Australia in Control Centre/Terminal Control Units in Cairns, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, Thales has continuously improved the system s functionalities and technology in response to Airservices Australia s evolving needs. Thales has also achieved improvements and expansion in EUROCAT functionality through a number of significant export contracts to many countries around the world including Singapore, China, Taiwan, South Africa, Mexico, Mauritius, Fiji, Madagascar, Tahiti and Thailand. 11

12 CASE STUDY In Singapore, Thales is providing a next generation EUROCAT ATM display the result of significant investment in operator-focused R&D. The product represents an important advance in air traffic controller display design based on Thales s extensive experience in advanced automation systems. The Java based single controller display solution for en route, approach and tower functions is available as an upgrade for all EUROCAT systems. This process of continual development and refinement has allowed Thales Australia s EUROCAT system implementation to stay at the cutting edge of world best practice and remain the undisputed reference for all non-european air traffic management customers. The success speaks for itself today, the Thales EUROCAT Air Traffic Management System manages approximately 50% of the world s passenger aircraft movements. Australian Distributed Architecture Combat System The Australian Distributed Architecture Combat System (ADACS) delivers a versatile naval combat system solution with future growth capacity. It was developed by Thales Australia for the Royal Australian Navy s FFG Upgrade program, and integrates 14 major shipboard sensors, effectors, tactical data links and support systems. Some are legacy and others are newly developed systems, some with complex proprietary protocols. When integrated using ADACS, they provide the frigates command teams with a common battlespace management environment. ADACS also provides command team operators with a modern graphical human machine interface (HMI) and automated operational capabilities. The development of ADACS is one of the most complex projects in Australian defence history. The HMI alone involved more than 60 design working groups and around 500,000 lines of Java code. Track management processing and interface processes were developed using C/C++, with 450,000 lines of code. The project has also involved 220 People Years of effort since 1999, including 120 on software development, 45 on system testing and 55 on management, supporting functions etc. There were over 100 formal reviews, audits and working groups along the way. The ADACS software executes on modern commercial off the shelf (COTS) hardware based computing infrastructure. ADACS employs a scalable client server distributed architecture and COTS software-based computing environment. 12

13 To reduce schedule and development risk, ADACS was delivered in three baseline builds. Baseline Build 1 (BB1) delivered significant improvement to detection and tracking capabilities, HMI improvements and the provision of the on board training capability. BB2 was retro-fitted to three ships and provided a fully integrated vertical launch system capability for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile. BB3 provided Link-16 capability, integration of the Beacon Video Processor (BVP) for IFF processing and integration of the Electro Optical Tracking System (EOTS). The success of the project, with ADACS as the central feature, delivered the first fully integrated Link-16 naval combat system in Australia and generated excellent feedback from the Royal Australian Navy. The many technical achievements involved showcased the company s deep expertise in R&D and complex systems integration, and delivered to the ADF an enhanced air warfare capability and platform life extension. 13

14 CASE STUDY Maritime communications modernisation The Defence Materiel Organisation s SEA 1442 Phase 3 Maritime Communications Modernisation project involves the introduction of an internet protocol (IP) based maritime tactical wide area network (MTWAN) into the Royal Australian Navy, in support of the Australian Defence Force s (ADF) NCW concept. The MTWAN is the first tactical IP network introduced to the ADF, and will provide the foundation for future maritime communication systems integration and implementation. Thales s innovative solution involves an integrated IPbased digital environment, interfacing with the RAN s existing analogue system. This approach provides future-proofing through the use of COTS components and reduces through life support costs. The solution comprises a mission system and a support system. The mission system encompasses the MTWAN and the message handling system (MHS). The MTWAN allows for information exchange between local area networks (LANs) of the same classification at different locations. The MHS system upgrade provides new messaging hardware and software. At the core of the MTWAN design is a robust and reliable common router network. This provides a converged IP wide area network (WAN) for the interconnection of security domains (enclave LANs) within the maritime battlespace information environment. The common router network provides an IP switching and routing fabric for the interconnection of LANs at the same classification level, including ship nodes and those at shore, while still providing interoperability with allied and coalition forces. The MTWAN also provides a two-tiered security architecture utilising both network and link encryption. This architecture defends against threats to both the network infrastructure and the interconnected LAN applications and data. The support system builds upon in-service infrastructure and integrates with the RAN s existing capability, and provides support for the operation, maintenance and ongoing engineering of the mission system, as well as training. The development of the solution required over three years work and a significant financial commitment. Thales s NEWLab played an important part in demonstrating the solution concept, maturity 14

15 of enabling technologies and viability of the risk management strategy. The MTWAN will be installed on all eight ANZAC frigates, Australia s four guided missile frigates (FFGs), as well as HMAS MANOORA, HMAS KANIMBLA and HMAS SUCCESS. The project drew on the experience in delivering similar programs overseas, and is an example of the benefits a global company such as Thales can bring to customers local expertise combined with reachback into the global organisation. Rail communications and surveillance In an innovative demonstration of complex integration expertise, Thales Australia is supplying the communications and surveillance subsystem (CSS) and performing information and communications technology (ICT) system integration for 78 new train sets comprising 624 carriages for the Sydney metropolitan train network. information system, brakes, doors, traction, air conditioning, fire detection and fleet management systems. The fully integrated communications and surveillance system provides closed circuit television, data links, GPS, destination indicators, digital voice announcement, public address, train radio, and crew and passenger emergency intercom. Thales is responsible for the design, integration, testing and support of this critical system, which will significantly enhance the efficiency of rail services, security of the network and safety of rail commuters, increasing consumer confidence and patronage. Wherever there is complex system integration required for IT security systems, Thales brings high level capabilities and proven performance to the task. Thales is collaborating closely as a subcontractor to Downer EDI Rail in designing an ethernet network and integrating ICT systems including the train 15

16 ///////////////////// Thales Australia Level 2, Building 51, Garden Island, NSW 2011, Australia Tel: +61 (0) Image credits: p3 Soldiers in night vision, p6 Bushmaster, p6 Tiger helicopter, p13 HMAS Darwin, p13 ESSM firing Australian Department of Defence - 2/2009 Thales Australia Limited ABN