When he was named to head Thales' RF EW business line in early 2005, Gérard Christmann had already garnered decades of experience in EW, missile and communications programs within the company. After graduating from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Télécommunications (SUP TELECOM) in Paris, he joined the Telecomunication Division of Thomson-CSF in 1975 as a technical engineer.

He was appointed director of the division's EW department and then promoted to marketing and sales director of the division. In 1993, he was appointed Vice President of Thomson-CSF's International Department. He then joined the company's Detection and Missile Systems Group as director of the medium-range missile systems business. In 2000, he became Director of the Missile Electronics Business Unit within Thales Airborne Systems before being named Director of Electronic Combat Solutions, within the newly formed Thales Aerospace division. In the month before the Paris Air Show, JED Editor John Knowles interviewed Christmann for his unique perspective on the EW market.

With so many business lines and so many international customers, how does Thales approach its customers, especially its EW customers?

Thales is organized in a matrix structure between what we call our multi-domestic organizations and our business lines. The multi-domestic approach means a local presence in the country, which brings Thales access to a greater number of domestic markets. The company has successfully pursued its multi-domestic strategy to emerge as the largest defence contractor in France, Australia, Korea and the Netherlands, and has achieved an exceptionally strong position in the United Kingdom, where it is the second largest supplier to the Ministry of Defence.

The business lines - each of which is an international worldwide organization - are in charge of one business. Each business line has a centralized management structure that is in charge of research and development, production, marketing strategy, and business development. Our domestic organizations in France, the UK, the US and so on, are responsible for pursuing local business opportunities in their markets.

So Thales France handles business opportunities in France, Thales UK handles business opportunities in the UK, Thales North America handles US customers. This type of business requires proximity to the customer, and a team of people of the same nationality, in order to respect the national security regulations of the customer.

I should also mention that electronic warfare is supported across three structures within the Thales Group, each with its own specificities and particular expertise. Our organization, within Thales Aerospace, works on radar electronic warfare systems. This is closely tied to our radar business. The second EW organization deals with COMINT and is part of Thales' Land and Joint Systems division, as is the third EW activity, Optronics, which is responsible for missile warning systems, laser warning receivers, directed IR countermeasures and flare dispensers.

So we have three different teams to cover all of the electronic warfare market. However, when we need to combine and integrate the three activities, it is the radar electronic warfare team, under my responsibility, that takes charge of the systems approach. For example, when the program is to deliver a SIGINT aircraft, we are the prime and we subcontract the COMINT to the division responsible for COMINT within Thales. When we have to deliver a self-protection system for a helicopter, we are in charge of the global system combining the radar warning receiver, the missile detection receiver and so on and so on. We are the systems integrator.

So, although your French and UK business units are developing and manufacturing EW systems, there are limits as to what information can pass between them without a government-to-government agreement?

It is a priority for us to respect international and national security regulations. For example, we have a great deal of cooperation between France and Italy on the FREMM [Frégate Européenne Multi-Mission] program. Our UK business does not participate in the program. Nevertheless, our duty is to organize synergies from an industrial point of view. It is clear that we rationalize, so as not to duplicate the investment. And that means that we try to develop common technologies. But only technologies.
Are you able to realize synergies between the UK and French business units in export cases?

Yes. For the export market in the Middle East and Asia for example, we have developed a unique family of products. For naval applications, for instance, our newest family of ESM/ ELINT systems is named VIGILE. VIGILE was co-developed between France and UK. When there is no security issue, we can offer products such as these.

What are some of the EW projects that Thales is working on right now?
As I mentioned, we are developing a new system for the FREMM. In the UK, we have just won a contract for the retrofit of radar ESM [Submarine Advanced Radar ESM Technology - SMART] on the Royal Navy's submarines. This contract is important for us and represents confirmation from the UK MoD, in the face of open competition from the world's major EW suppliers, of Thales' position as the predominant naval EW supplier in Europe.

There will also be a competition within the next three years for the replacement of the electronic warfare systems on all of the surface ships of the British Royal Navy. And, we have developed the VIGILE family for export opportunities such as Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar and so on. For combat aircraft, we don't have a generic system to offer.
How is Thales approaching the airborne EW market?

In France, we provide the self-protection systems for Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft. But we are not "the" supplier for the British platforms. For the export market, we have developed CATS [Compact Airborne Threat Surveyor]. The first CATS systems were made for slow-moving aircraft like transports, helicopters and UAVs. We are now offering a version for fighter aircraft. For the retrofit market, we have developed a podded jammer PAJ. It is very small - say close to the size of an infrared missile - and it can fit easily on many different fighters. In addition to CATS and PAJ, we have integrated suites for more advanced aircraft. The best example is the EW suite for the Mirage 2000-9. The customer wanted something very similar or better than the F16 Block 60.

Within the radar technology area, are you looking at AESA radars that can perform EW functions?
Absolutely. In fact, for the active radar we have developed a European technology within a European company, which is UMS [United Monolithic Semiconductors]. UMS is a joint venture between Thales and EADS, and we have developed the technologies to provide an RF system that be perform radar functions, as well as ESM and jamming. So we have developed the right knowledge and have a European source for the technology, so we are not dependent on the US. Some AESA prototypes are already flying, and this type of technology is going to be used on the French RAFALE.

Is Thales developing a support jamming system? In the past there has been a project CARBONE.
CARBONE was started by the Air Force to enable the development of a support jammer. An arrangement has been made to organize European cooperation, and we expect to be able to launch something - an actual program - in the following years. This is based not only on technologies demonstrated under CARBONE, but on those technology demonstration projects that were contracted to us after CARBONE. The French Air Force is very interested in obtaining a support jammer. The operational requirement is clear, and we expect the program to begin in France within the next few years.

Would other nations become involved in the cooperative development of a support jammer or would you be looking to develop this strictly within France?

It would be a European collaborative program. It could be developed and bought between two or three European air forces.

What are some of the new product areas that Thales is pursuing in the EW market?
UAVs are a new requirement we are following, mainly for payloads - SIGINT payloads. And there is a need to protect them. So, for instance, we are looking into development of small jammers. We are also developing for France the payloads for the ELISA [Electronic Intelligence Satellite]. It is a black program. Of course, this is not for the export market.
At the technology and component level, do you feel that Thales is very competitive with the other top companies in the market?

Yes. It is not possible to be competitive if you do not have the right technology. And part of our main activity is to integrate the components more and more, to be able to put more functions in the same size and to lower the price for the equipment.

On what areas does Thales focus its research and development dollars these days? Do you focus more on the software expertise or in the component technology?
Both. Of course, we feel that the performance is linked to the technology - the receiver and so on. But more and more, the performance is also linked to the algorithms that run the EW systems. And as you know, increasingly the performance of a self-protection system onboard an aircraft is the result of data fusion between different sensors.

As a final question, what is the strategic objective of your EW business in the near future?
We represent the merger of Thomson-CSF and RACAL and Dassault Electronique, and our target is clearly to take advantage of our experience in the EW market. Our goal is to maintain our market share and, if possible, to increase our market share. We are in a very strong position in the market. And our goal is to take advantage of that position and to continue building on it.