AI is playing a larger role in France’s defense industrial strategy, shaping how naval combat systems are designed, built, and controlled.
As part of this push, Naval Group has acquired a 20-percent stake in cortAIx France, Thales’ AI accelerator for defense systems.
The move gives Naval Group a seat in cortAIx’s governance and formalizes joint development of military-focused AI technologies.
Under the agreement, Naval Group engineers, including specialists from its Digital Excellence Center in Ollioules, will work directly with cortAIx teams to embed naval operational expertise directly into AI system design.
The focus is on transitioning AI tools from development into operational use, while maintaining oversight of algorithms and safeguarding sensitive defense data.
Expanding Operational Use
The collaboration also aims to scale these AI technologies for industrial deployment across multiple defense domains.
Priority areas include collaborative combat systems that allow operators to manage multiple assets simultaneously, as well as decision-support tools designed to process large volumes of operational and tactical data.
The work also covers electronic warfare applications such as automated signal identification, radar geolocation, and mission report generation.
Additional areas focus on AI-supported training and simulation, along with logistics tools intended to improve forecasting and sustainment planning.
Building the cortAIx Ecosystem
Launched by Thales in 2024, cortAIx brings together AI-focused research, engineering, and industrialization for critical defense systems.
It now includes more than 800 AI specialists across hubs in several European countries, as well as Canada and Singapore.
Last month, Thales announced the creation of a new cortAIx hub in Germany, signaling a broader push toward AI systems designed for contested and high-risk environments.
That push also extends to military aviation.
In November 2025, Thales and Dassault Aviation disclosed plans to integrate “controlled and supervised” AI into combat aircraft and unmanned platforms.
Through cortAIx, the companies aim to develop AI tools to support threat detection, mission planning, and coordinated manned-unmanned operations, while keeping final decision authority with human operators.
