Thales moves to acquire Exail Technologies as demand for GPS-free navigation soars

Exail Technologies, located in Lannion, Côtes-d’Armor, specializes in inertial navigation equipment that enables vehicles and weapons to operate when satellite signals are unavailable. The company’s orders have exploded following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the latest Middle-East hostilities, where navigation jamming has rendered many systems ineffective. Thomas Loret, the deputy industrial director, reported that production capacity has been tripled since 2022 and that the firm aims to double output again within two years.

Thales is in the process of acquiring Exail, prompting the purchase of a new building near the existing site to house additional teams and machinery. Exail also plans to invest in its Saint-Germain-en-Laye plant and intends to hire roughly fifty new employees by 2027, raising its Lannion staff to about three hundred, making it the third-largest private employer in the area after Orange and Nokia.