Dassault Aviation has flight-tested two new sovereign AI algorithms on the Rafale fighter jet, moving controlled cockpit AI from concept into airborne trials on one of Europe’s most important combat aircraft programmes. One algorithm was developed by Dassault engineers and the other with Thales’ cortAIx unit, with both described as mature enough for future Rafale upgrades.
The French planemaker positioned the work as part of a broader effort to integrate supervised AI in support of the human crew rather than replace it. Dassault did not disclose the algorithms’ functions, the exact test profile or the Rafale standard that could adopt them. The disclosure underlines continued French investment in sovereign combat-aircraft software and the long-running industrial relationship between Dassault and Thales on the Rafale platform.