EU-BRAZIL Investment Dialogue

French company shifts civil focus to Brazil and strengthens defense base in Europe

The architecture of the European defense industry’s supply chain is undergoing a significant reconfiguration, driven by escalating global geopolitical tensions. In order to prioritize military manufacturing at its facilities in Europe, the Thales conglomerate has decided to transfer part of its production center to Brazil.

This strategy materializes through an injection of R$ 120 million into Omnisys, Thales’s Brazilian subsidiary. The financial contribution aims for a 1,000% increase in civil radar manufacturing volume at its São Paulo headquarters, supported by an expansion of approximately 40% in local production infrastructure. Furthermore, the company projects allocating 28 of these units for foreign trade by 2026.

Omnisys also intends to leverage the technology’s dual-use capability to enable a future transition toward meeting Latin American demand for military tracking systems, assisting in tracking illegal flights that pose a chronic challenge for the region.

Currently, Thales is pursuing a merger of satellite operations with Airbus and Leonardo, with regulatory approval estimated for 2027, aiming to shield the continental market against the advance of aggressive private competitors from the United States and Asia. The impacts of this operational and industrial move accompany a strong financial performance in the sector. The parent company’s defense division recorded a 13.1% surge in half-year revenue, reaching 6.3 billion euros.

Read more at: https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2026/08/03/demanda-forte-por-defesa-sustenta-investimentos-da-thales-no-brasil.ghtml