Calepin des entreprises international 2026 VA.pdf — page 64

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STRATEGIC HIGHLIGHTS
Business trends
	
 Exail Technologies revenues reached €373 million in 2024, up 16% year-on-year thanks to strong growth 
in both divisions. The group recorded new orders worth €451 million in 2024 and had an order book of 
€708 million at year-end, representing almost two years of sales.
	
 In January 2025, Exail announced the acquisition of French photonics company Leukos, which specialises in 
lasers for metrology, spectroscopy and imaging applications. Leukos generates revenue of around €3 million 
and employs around 20 people.
Home market
	
 Created by the combination of iXblue and ECA Group, the new company Exail is a major player in various 
fields, including maritime autonomous robotic systems, very high performance inertial navigation solutions, 
and photonic, quantum and space solutions.
	
 In November 2024, the French defence procurement ageny (DGA) selected Exail and Thales to supply 
16 unmanned underwater vehicles, including 8 optional units, to the French Navy as part of the SLAMF mine 
countermeasures programme. Exail’s A18-M AUVs will be equipped with Thales’ SAMDIS 600 sonar.
	
 Babcock France selected Exail in May 2025 to supply flight simulators for the Pilatus PC-7 MKX aircraft as part 
of the Mentor 2 programme for training French military pilots.
Export markets
	
 Exail Technologies generated 75% of its revenues from exports in 2024, and has customers in 80 countries.
	
 The group is positioned on several major defence contracts, in particular since 2019 alongside Naval Group 
(Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium) for the design, construction and maintenance of 12 mine warfare 
vessels equipped with mine-clearing drones for the Belgian and Dutch navies. Exail’s share of this contract 
amounts to €500m over 10 years, out of a total value of €2.1 billion.
	
 In February 2025, Exail Technologies won a contract worth nearly €500 million to supply a foreign Navy with 
various unmanned vehicles (USVs, AUVs and UAVs) for mine countermeasures, to be delivered over a period 
of four years.
	
 In May 2025, the Republic of Singapore Navy ordered various robotic systems from Exail to equip unmanned 
surface vessels supplied by ST Engineering for mine countermeasures, including inertial navigation systems, 
underwater acoustic positioning systems and forward-looking sonars (FLS). The contract also includes 
SEASCAN and K-STER underwater drones.
	
 In May 2025, Spain selected Exail’s UmiX 40 inertial measurement unit (IMU) to equip SIRTAP tactical UAS 
supplied by Airbus Defence and Space (27 UAS ordered at the end of 2023).
	
 In June 2025, Exail signed a contract with the Indonesian Navy to supply the UMIS integrated mine 
countermeasures system, including four Inspector 90 USVs and SEASCAN and K-STER underwater drones. 
The programme is expected to last three years.
	
 A European Navy ordered five DriX H-8 USVs in June 2025 for maritime surveillance.
	
 In August 2025, Exail announced the first sale of a DriX H-9 USV to a foreign hydrographic service for naval 
defence, with delivery scheduled for 2026. Measuring 9 metres long and weighing 2.1 tonnes, the H-9 is an 
enlarged version of the H-8 model with twice the range.
Technology and Innovation
	
 The group’s R&D expenditure reached €40.8 million in 2024, representing 10.9% of revenues.
	
 In September 2025, the DriX O-16 USV took part in NATO’s REPMUS (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping 
using Maritime Unmanned Systems) exercises in Portugal, after travelling 2,000 km autonomously over 6 days 
from Exail’s site in La Ciotat (near Marseille).
EXAIL TECHNOLOGIES (FORMERLY GROUPE GORGÉ)