Thales unveils PureFlyt, the brain of tomorrow’s aircraft

Thales has unveiled PureFlyt, the Flight Management System (FMS) of the future, specifically designed to efficiently manage aircraft in a connected aerospace ecosystem and in increasingly crowded skies. Indeed, with the global commercial aircraft fleet forecast to double by 2030, and the use of drones set to rapidly grow, we will be entering an era in which millions of aircraft movements are recorded each day. 

Combining extensive knowledge of Avionics, Connectivity, Air Traffic Management and 40-year  Flight Management System expertise, Thales has developed PureFlyt, an entirely connected FMS, designed to offer airframers and airlines the best combination of safety, security, and fuel and operations efficiency. PureFlyt will allow crews to make better decisions using more sources of information, will bring improved performance and responsiveness to the aircraft during complex phases of flight, and will calculate alternative trajectories in real time to propose or react quickly to changes of plan. Providing pilots with the right information at the right time heightens trust in the computed trajectory, enhancing efficiency and reducing pilot workload throughout all flight phases.

One of the core innovations making PureFlyt a game changer in the FMS world is its ability to draw on both onboard and open-world data, such as weather information. By combining the integrity of the FMS and the agility and power of Electronic Flight Bag flight functionalities, aircraft trajectory can be permanently controlled, adapted and enhanced, resulting in optimised flight, decreased fuel consumption and improved passenger comfort.

While being a technological breakthrough, PureFlyt enjoys an unparalleled level of maturity. The use of massive testing and artificial intelligence technologies to simulate 2 billion test cases enabled the accumulation of invaluable experience equivalent to 100 million actual flight hours.

Cyber-secure by design, PureFlyt has also been designed to be future-proof, accommodating the implementation of concepts such as the Initial 4D (I4D) trajectory management methods currently being researched by SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) in the EU and NextGen in the US. By increasing the accuracy of flight in four dimensions, the fourth dimension being time, PureFlyt will enable more effectiveness in maintaining optimal distance between aircraft, particularly in the demanding phases of departure and approach.

PureFlyt will be available for entry into service in 2024, for both linefit and retrofit.

“In the air, the digital revolution has only just begun. A paradigm shift in onboard cockpit electronics is taking place in the connected airspace and PureFlyt is at the forefront of this digital new age, leading the next generation of Flight Management System that truly makes the aircraft a node of connectivity. By computing and sharing vast amounts of data, PureFlyt will make flights safer, greener, easier for the pilots to manage, more profitable for airlines and, all this, ultimately for the full benefit of passengers,” declared Jean-Paul Ebanga, Thales Vice-President Flight Avionics.

• See also the LinkedIn opinion piece by Gil Michielin, EVP Avionics at Thales, about "how the brain of the aircraft is about to get even more powerful".