TALIOS (TArgeting Long-range Identification Optronic System) is the first and only system merging high performance targeting and reconnaissance features in a single pod, covering the entire decision chain, from intelligence gathering through to threat neutralization. Designed entirely around operational feedback from users, TALIOS is the latest addition to the Thales family. With the new Permanent Visionâ„¢ technology, TALIOS also provides constant situational awareness to the pilot and to the ground forces, by incorporating the pod’s real-time imagery into a 3D mapping display. Capabilities range from deep strike with long-range missiles and bombs to air-to-air target identification and close air support, and include the rapidly emerging requirement of Non-Traditional Information, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (NTISR).
TALIOS multi-function targeting pod with a plug-and-fight feature which allows it to be easily integrated with majority of modern platforms. TALIOS was unveiled for the first time during Paris Air Show – it was its debut in Malaysia. It is more advanced and more useful than DAMOCLES – which is currently a standard targeting pod of the French military. TALIOS is compatible with laser guided weapons, imagery-guided missiles and INS/GPS-guided missiles. It can help attack land targets autonomously by a pilot or in a cooperative mode – by using laser designation provided by ground troops.
The integration of the TALIOS pod, which will be included on the French Air Force and Navy Rafales, is a major part of the F3R standard development on the Rafale combat aircraft. The success of the first TALIOS flight on a Rafale is the second key event in its development program for 2016, following on from the first flight on the Mirage2000 test bench aircraft. The TALIOS pod development and Rafale integration programs run in parallel. The adjustment and performance measurement tests will continue throughout 2017. They will lead both to the qualification of the equipment and to the qualification of the F3R standard for the Rafale by mid-2018. The Military Programming Law 2014-2019 anticipates an order of 45 pods for the Air Force and the Navy, 20 of which have already been ordered from Thales by the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA). Delivery of the mass-produced equipment will start in 2018.
