AI-enabled mission support system deploys for U.K. defense ministry
NewsJuly 09, 2026
LONDON. A defense partnership between Thales, RAF Digital, and NAD [National Armaments Director Group] reports that it has accomplished the first operational deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) from the Thales UK cortAIx Factory.
According to the announcement from Thales, AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities have been integaated into the has been used in the Multi-Domain Mission Support System (MD MSS), which has been in use in the U.K. in various versions since 1986, starting life with the U.K. defense ministry as a mission data system in maritime patrol aircraft.
The current contract sustains and develops a system used across a broad range of platforms, including the F-35B Lightning II, Typhoon, Poseidon, Voyager, and Chinook. The MD MSS is also installed aboard the Royal Navy warships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, as they support operations of the Carrier Strike Group.
The Thales announcement describes the MD MSS as a system that processes, transmits, and manipulates complex mission data from multiple sources and locations to quickly deliver mission-critical information to air crews ad ground-based personnel to maximize situational awareness and communications interoperability.
