Thales and Turgis Gaillard have joined forces to offer a radar-equipped version of the latter company’s AAROK medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) platform.

Optimised for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance duties, including in the maritime domain, the new version will combine Thales’s AirMaster S active electronically scanned array radar with the distinctive AAROK aircraft unveiled at Le Bourget two years ago.

“This collaboration with Thales reflects our shared objective of providing a 100% French MALE drone solution to meet the exacting requirements of high-intensity conflicts,” the airframer says. “The choice of the AirMaster S radar expands the operational capabilities of the AAROK drone and marks a major step forward in the strategic autonomy of our industry,” it adds.

Thales notes that in addition to providing its AI-enhanced radar system, the partnership – announced at the Paris air show on 17 June – “paves the way for the integration of other Thales sensors on the AAROK drone”.

Powered by a single engine and with a maximum take-off weight of around 5,000kg (11,000lb), the AAROK has an operating endurance of over 24h in unmanned guise. On display at the show in a piloted configuration, the type is flown at a cruise altitude of 30,000ft.

Also at the show, Thales announced that it will supply the AirMaster S system for integration with the ultra-long-endurance, solar-powered MAPS Skydweller surveillance platform.

“Its AI-based target classification feature can detect points of interest among a large volume of data and reduce the amount of information that needs to be transmitted to the ground,” Thales says. It describes the system as “perfectly suited to the Skydweller drone’s persistence in flight”.