Thales opens European security center

Published 14 October 2008

More than 25 percent of Thales’s revenues come from its security systems, which totalled approximately €3.4 billion in 2007; the French giant launches a security research center dedicated to homeland security

Thales has opened of its first European center dedicated to advanced security solutions for citizens, infrastructure, and ground transport systems. The 600 m2 facility in Vélizy le Bois near Paris employs around 2,000 engineers and experts. Its opening was attended by Jacques Barrot, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security.

Following France’s White Paper on Defense and National Security (see Livre blanc sur la Défense et la Sécurité nationale 2008), Thales has made a strategic commitment to develop and deploy security technologies to the international market. More than 25 percent of Thales’s revenues come from its security systems, which totalled approximately €3.4 billion in 2007.

The new interactive center will develop various security technologies including secure ID document production, protection of energy production, transport infrastructure, airport security, cyber protection, and large-scale urban security support.