Thales

Thales is a French-headquartered multinational that was listed as the world's 10th biggest arms trader by SIPRI in 2016. It is part-owned by the French government.

It builds radars, sonars and electronic surveillance satellites, tactical communication systems and combat management systems, drones, helicopter avionics, armoured vehicles, mortar systems and missiles.

Notably, Thales made the brand of missiles controversially deployed around the London Olympic Games site in 2012.

It also makes the notorious Watchkeeper drones, which were recently revealed to have so far cost the British taxpayer £1 billion pounds over the past 12 years. These aircraft are maintained by a UK-based joint venture called UAS Tactical Systems Ltd (U-TacS) with Israel's Elbit Systems, (which designed the original Hermes 450 drone that the Watchkeeper was based on).

Revolving door appointments

• James Arbuthnot, former Conservative MP on the board of Thales since 201
• General Timothy Granville-Chapman - now on the advisory board, was previously former vice-chief of the defence staff
• Lord Charles Powell, member of the advisory board circa 2015
• Craig Stevenson - government affairs director
• Ann Taylor - former Labour defence minister joined Thales as a consultant adviser in 2010
• Roger Wheeler - former chief of the general staff, appointed as a non-executive director in 2009

Recent MOD contracts

In March 2018 UK defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, announced the MOD had signed a contract to spend almost £4million with Thales and General Dynamics Land Systems-UK to deliver a vehicle-mounted acoustic shot detection system, named the Acusonic sensor, which can sense and report the direction of incoming enemy fire.