At Eurosatory 2024 held in Paris last week, Safran Electronics & Defense launched its Advanced Cognitive Engine (ACE) artificial intelligence system. Its purpose is to integrate AI capabilities into all Safran Electronics & Defense products to deliver enhanced situational awareness, decision support and reduced cognitive load for forces in the field.
ACE will improve target detection, classification and identification capabilities by correcting for environmental effects such as atmospheric turbulence and low light conditions. Other functions such as advanced tracking and automatic target detection will help users perform missions by reducing their cognitive burden. Each capability can be adapted to specific environments - flat open landscape, desert, jungle, etc. - for optimum performance.
These combined capabilities, called “ACE on board”, will be integrated into all equipment, including land vehicle, aircraft and naval sights, as well as portable optronics products. ACE will also integrate on Safran Electronics & Defense drones and robotic systems, enabling operators to manage and operate their fleets more efficiently.
ACE responds to the ethical challenges posed by the use of AI: all of its capabilities keep the user at the heart of the decision and action loop.
“It’s important but also quite natural for us to be talking about AI at this year’s event,” said Alexandre Ziegler, EVP Defense Division, Safran Electronics & Defense.
“By capitalizing on our expertise in this field, coupled with our high-tech imaging systems, we’re offering significant advances in performance for our customers,” he added.
Initially available on an external processor, these new capabilities will be built into equipment via dedicated electronics. The ACE solution will benefit from twice yearly updates to keep pace with evolving operational realities.
Safran has a global presence, with 92 000 employees and sales of 23.2 billion euros in 2023, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets. Safran is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and is part of the CAC 40 and Euro Stoxx 50 indices.
Safran Electronics & Defense offers its customers on-board intelligence solutions allowing them to understand the environment, to reduce mental load and to guarantee a trajectory, even in critical situations, in all environments: on land, at sea, in the sky or space. The company harnesses the expertise of its 12,000 employees towards these three functions: observe, decide and guide, for the civil and military markets.
