📡 On the radar

Thales has turned a factory in São Paulo's industrial belt into one of its global radar production hubs.

Omnisys, the group's Brazilian subsidiary and a certified Strategic Defense Company under the Defense Ministry, completed the largest expansion in its history this week, an investment of more than BRL 120 million (USD 23.6m). The São Bernardo do Campo plant grew by over 40%, from 8,000 to more than 11,000 square meters. Annual output capacity rose tenfold, from an average of five radars a year to 50. More than 150 engineers and technicians were hired for the project alone.

The added capacity is aimed outward. Thales says the investment will drive export growth from Brazil and reinforce the country's place in the group's global supply network. Omnisys equipment already operates in 18 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, and the company holds roughly 140 products certified as strategic defense goods by the Defense Ministry.

The parent company operates in 65 countries and posted EUR 22.1 billion in sales in 2025. It expects its Latin American business to grow by more than 60% over the next three to five years — a target that assumes a stable trade environment and a Brazilian state that continues to buy. Neither is a given. Tariff disputes have unsettled supply chains across the defense sector, and Brasília has grown more insistent that foreign suppliers transfer technology rather than simply sell finished systems.

At the factory on Monday, July 27, Pascale Sourisse, Thales's senior executive vice president for international development, spoke exclusively to The Brazilian Report about the expansion, why escalating trade tensions have not altered the group's plans and how it views Brazil's push for technology transfers and greater strategic autonomy.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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