Thales
Thales is a French-headquartered defence multinational.
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). [1]
Revolving door appointments
- James Arbuthnot, former Conservative MP now on the board of Thales
- General Timothy Granville-Chapman - now on the advisory board, was previously former vice-chief of the defence staff
- Lord Powell, member of the advisory board circa 2015
- Craig Stevenson - government affairs director
- Ann Taylor - former Labour defence minister joined Thales as a consultant in 2010
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. [2]
Notes
- ↑ Gareth Corfield [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/29/watchkeeper_drone_billion_pound_spend/Watchkeeper drones cost taxpayers £1bn And were used on combat ops for just two days], 29 Nov 2017, accessed 26 March 2018
- ↑ Deal Worth £3.7 Million Announced For Army's Armoured Vehicles, Forces Network, 15 March 2018, accessed 26 March 2018
