Thales is broadening its defense and security portfolio with a new joint venture and a collaborative agreement with companies in Europe.

Together with the Sagem Group, which has headquarters in France, a new company, called OPTROLEAD, has been formed.

Creation of the company marries Thales' and Sagem's marketing and technical expertise in the area of optronic systems.

Thales said OPTROLEAD will be responsible for the sale of future optronic systems, especially for defense applications.

OPTROLEAD is positioning itself for major defense programs, including a program to upgrade the optronic payload of the French navy's Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, the imaging system for a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle to be built jointly by France and Britain, a modular optronic system for army combat vehicles and optronics for future helicopters.

"We have taken an important step forward in consolidating and enhancing synergies within the French optronics industry," said Serge Adrian, chairman and chief executive officer of Thales Optronique SA. "Our new company, OPTROLEAD. will effectively combine the leading areas of expertise of its two parent companies."

Philippe Petitcolin, chairman and chief executive officer of Sagem, said: "OPTROLEAD is already capable of coordinating contracts directly with customers of Sagem and Thales. ..."

"The ATL2 upgrade program could well be the first concrete application for this new entity."

OPTROLEAD's chairman is Emmanuel de Roquefeuil of Thales. Albert Levionnois of Sagem was appointed chief executive officer.

Thales is a technology in the defense and security market as well as in aerospace and transportation. Sagem is the Safran Group's high-tech company and is engaged in optronics, avionics, electronics and safety-critical software.

In addition to the Thales-Sagem joint venture, Thales reports it is expanding its collaborative efforts with Cisco to boost networking and communications innovations.

Initiatives to be addressed in the partnership include development of Thales solutions based on Cisco technologies and exploiting defense and security market opportunities in areas such as mobile routing or broadband radio networks.

"This will be a hugely valuable long-term collaboration for both businesses," said Jean-Michel Lagarde, senior vice president in charge of Systems Activities, Thales Communications and Security.

"Combining Thales' specialist industry expertise and advance integration capabilities with Cisco's world-leading networking knowledge and technology will allow us to develop and deliver genuinely innovative security solutions to our customers worldwide."

Under the new partnership, Cisco will make available its extensive range of standard networking equipment and infrastructure as well as its sales and technology training programs. Thales will become a Cisco Global Specialty Integrator, embedding Cisco technologies into its own systems and solutions.

Thales will also resell select networking technology from Cisco and collaborate in technology development.

"Cisco and Thales share a common belief in the importance of the network in driving innovation and delivering business value within the defense sector," said Chris Dedicoat, president of Cisco's Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia unit.

"By working closely together, both companies will be better placed to address existing opportunities within the industry and create the new solutions that will help deliver competitive advantage and drive new market opportunities."