Dassault Aviation has flight-tested two new sovereign AI algorithms aboard the Rafale fighter jet, moving the work from development into the airborne test phase. One algorithm was developed in-house, while the second was created with Thales’ cortAIx unit, and both are being assessed for possible inclusion in future Rafale upgrades.
The company has kept the functions of the software undisclosed, as well as the aircraft standard that could eventually adopt it. The effort sits within a broader push to bring controlled and supervised AI into the cockpit to support the human crew rather than replace it.
Dassault identified three main challenges in that work: obtaining reliable operational data, combining domain expertise and fitting AI into the limited computing resources available on embedded military platforms. The flight tests follow the strategic partnership signed with Thales in November 2025 to develop sovereign AI for crewed and uncrewed military aircraft.