Paris Air Show 2025: Thales unveils mini COMINT payload for UAVs

The Thales mini COMINT sensor (the black box with four brass connectors, seen above the grey landing plate) fitted to a Hexadrone Tundra 2 UAV at the Paris Air Show 2025. (Janes/Tom Barton)

Thales unveiled a new mini communications intelligence (COMINT) sensor payload for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the Paris Air Show 2025 held from 16 to 22 June.

The system, as yet publicly unnamed, is designed to passively detect and classify enemy communications, Nicolas Fovet, head of communications and electronic warfare programmes at Thales, told Janes.

Operating between 200 MHz and 6 GHz, the sensor can detect signals from equipment including software-defined radios (SDRs), tactical datalinks, and satellite communications (satcom). It has a dual-mode capability for localising and displaying the signal, with stand-off localisation allowing long-range detection for in-depth intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions and stand-in localisation allowing short-range detection with on-site permanence and discretion.

Specifically designed for carriage by UAVs, the size, weight, and power (SWaP) needs of the system have been kept low, with a weight of 4.5 kg with antenna and a 40 W power requirement.

The system is intended to deliver a 3D localisation of signal direction in the horizontal and vertical planes. While some triangulation for distant signals may be needed by moving the UAV, this can all be done from the single unit, and once triangulation is achieved, it can remain stationary. The sensor marks its own position using global navigation satellite services (GNSS) or inertial navigation data, Fovet said.