Thales has secured a position as one of the down-selected bidders for the UK Ministry of Defence’s Project NYX, the ambitious initiative to deliver a Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform. This selection marks a significant step toward integrating uncrewed systems into the British Army’s future warfighting concepts.
The company is leveraging decades of experience in autonomous technology to craft its proposal. At the core of Thales’ offering is a focus on trusted autonomy and resilient mission management, ensuring that human operators can confidently delegate complex tasks to uncrewed assets. This capability is particularly vital for operations in contested and degraded environments, where systems must maintain functionality despite electronic interference or communications disruptions.
A key component of the Thales strategy is its established partnership with Schiebel, the Austrian manufacturer renowned for the CAMCOPTER® S-100. By building on this existing relationship, the team aims to deliver a solution that is not only flexible and scalable but also mature enough to meet the UK’s stringent certification standards. Thales brings to the table a proven track record of operating under the UK Military Aviation Authority, ensuring that the proposed systems will be safe to operate in complex airspace alongside manned aircraft and ground troops.
Beyond the hardware, Thales is emphasizing its role as a long-standing sovereign partner to the UK. The company is committed to developing the solution within a strong national ecosystem, supporting British industry and ensuring that the intellectual property and operational control remain within the UK. This approach aligns with the MoD’s broader strategy to secure resilient supply chains and maintain a technological edge over potential adversaries.
Project NYX is designed to explore how autonomous systems can act as collaborative “wingmen” to traditional armored vehicles, providing enhanced surveillance, electronic warfare capabilities, or lethal effects while keeping human crews out of the immediate danger zone. As the programme moves into the next phase, the Thales-Schiebel team will now work to refine its proposal, demonstrating how its blend of certified technology and autonomous expertise can deliver a transformative capability for the British Army.
