The expanded Thales-AIO partnership was unveiled at Egypt Defence Expo 2025 (EDEX 2025), as Egypt seeks to strengthen its defence-industrial collaboration with France.
The new framework also expands collaboration in ground surveillance solutions, establishes a dedicated service centre for thermal imagers inside AIO's facilities, and integrates Egyptian-produced components into Thales' global supply chain.
Together, these pillars form one of Egypt's most ambitious defence-industrial localization projects, reinforcing the country's drive for technological sovereignty and its emergence as a regional centre for high-value manufacturing.
The strengthened partnership builds on five decades of cooperation between Thales and Egypt.
Since 1973, Thales has served as a strategic technology partner, supporting national priorities in defence, civil aviation, space, enterprise systems, and cybersecurity.
Today, Thales operates as a leading global provider of advanced technologies across defence, aerospace, and cyber-digital domains, employing more than 83,000 people in 68 countries and investing over 4 billion euros annually in research and development, particularly in AI, cybersecurity, quantum, and cloud systems.
The group recorded revenues of 20.6 billion euros in 2024.
For Egypt, the expanded collaboration also draws on the industrial strength of Arab International Optronics, one of the region's premier producers of advanced optical and electro-optical systems.
Established by the Egyptian Armed Forces as a core national industrial pillar, AIO operates nine state-of-the-art factories manufacturing day and night, thermal and laser technologies, fire-control systems, remote-controlled weapon stations, integrated combat solutions, and precision electronics.
Six pillars of cooperation
At the centre of the new partnership is a structured programme to expand joint development, training, manufacturing, and technology transfer across six priority domains.
Advanced training and talent development:
AIO and Thales will establish the Thales Academy in Egypt, in cooperation with Thales entities in France, the UK, Belgium, and Germany.
The academy will serve as a regional training hub in optronics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, radio telecommunications, and radar systems, offering certified programmes delivered by Thales specialists and supporting partnerships between Egyptian and French universities.
Next-generation fire control systems (FCS):
The two sides will co-develop an advanced upgrade kit for heavy armoured vehicles, significantly enhancing their precision and survivability on the battlefield.
The project combines AIO's long-standing leadership in fire-control technologies with Thales' global excellence in optronics and targeting solutions.
Enhanced remote-controlled weapon systems (RCWS):
Thales and AIO will jointly develop a laser-guided rocket variant of the widely deployed AIO X29 RCWS, merging AIO's manufacturing capabilities with Thales' expertise in laser-guided rockets.
Integrated ground surveillance systems:
The partnership includes a combat-proven ground-surveillance solution for the Egyptian Armed Forces using Thales ground radar and the Hand-Held Thermal Imager (HHTI).
Managed by a unique command-and-control computer, this man-pack solution enables rapid detection and identification of threats.
Localised sustainment and lifecycle support:
The development within AIO premises of a service centre dedicated to supporting the Thales Hand-Held Thermal Imager deployed with the Egyptian forces.
Industrial integration and supply-chain localization:
The partners will deepen industrial cooperation by integrating AIO components and sub-assemblies into Thales’ global supply chain.
This collaboration will increase Thales' product throughput and competitiveness while enabling AIO to further develop its industrial capabilities.
"With the reinforcement of this strong partnership with AIO, Thales in Egypt is proud to contribute to Egypt's technological sovereignty," said Sherif Barakat, CEO of Thales in Egypt.
"By further anchoring Thales' advanced solutions within Egypt, both our companies are committed to transforming Egypt into a regional technology hub capable of supporting and exporting high-value, locally produced solutions," he added.
During EDEX 2025, the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) signed two major agreements with leading French defence manufacturers, underscoring a broader shift toward technology transfer, local production, and long-term industrial integration.
AOI concluded a cooperation agreement with Sofema, the French aerospace maintenance specialist, to localize the overhaul and repair of aircraft engines, including the LARZAC engines powering Egypt's fleet of Alpha Jet aircraft.
The agreement will give AOI new maintenance and machining capabilities, reduce reliance on foreign service centres, and enhance Egypt’s domestic aerospace-support capacity.
Moreover, AOI and Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the Rafale fighter jet, formalized a new partnership to integrate Egyptian facilities into Dassault's global supply chain.
Under the agreement, AOI will produce certified spare parts and components to Fourth Industrial Revolution standards, positioning Egypt as an approved supplier for Dassault platforms.
Together, the Sofema and Dassault agreements complement the expanded cooperation with Thales, signalling a coordinated effort to localize defence technology, expand industrial capacity, and strengthen long-term French-Egyptian partnerships in production, maintenance, and advanced training.
EDEX 2025 is the largest edition of Egypt’s defence exhibition since its launch in 2018, hosting more than 450 global defence and security manufacturers from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Organizers say the event has attracted over 100 official delegations, including defence ministers, chiefs of staff, national armament directors, and heads of state defence industries, as well as military and industry visitors from 86 countries.
The exhibition covers a full range of modern military technologies, including armoured vehicles, air-defence systems, naval capabilities, UAVs, electronic-warfare tools, command-and-control platforms, and next-generation protective equipment. More than 40,000 visitors are expected over the four-day event.
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