Retour aux nouvelles

13 février 2019 | International, C4ISR

Earthcube, la start-up française qui veut marcher dans les pas de Palantir

ANNE DRIF

Fondé il y a deux ans par deux anciens d'Areva et Airbus, Earthcube travaille pour quatre « organisations » du ministère des Armées et un service britannique.

L'un montait des joint-ventures en Chine, en Russie et en Corée chez Areva. L'autre élaborait de nouvelles technologies d'observation de la terre chez Airbus Defense & Space. A 37 et 34 ans, Arnaud Guérin et Renaud Allioux sont aujourd'hui à la tête d'Earthcube, la première start-up devenue, en l'espace de deux ans, le prestataire de quatre « organisations » au sein du ministère de la Défense, dont ses services de renseignement militaire. Et d'un service britannique.

Identifier un pick-up dans le désert

Faute d'écho à ses solutions de Big Data au sein de l'avionneur, et Space X ayant écarté sa candidature, les projets de Renaud Allioux, ont rencontré ceux d'Arnaud Guérin, qui s'intéressait lui aussi aux systèmes de surveillance stratégiques.

Ensembles, ils ont lancé une solution d'intelligence artificielle qui permet d'identifier sur des images satellites prises à 600 kilomètres d'altitude, des objets de quelques dizaines de pixels en quelques secondes, comme un pick-up en plein désert, ou de suivre des dizaines de milliers de véhicules, dans de grands centres urbains, comme Deir Ezzor aux mains de l'EI. « Aujourd'hui, il faut plusieurs jours à un analyste de renseignement pour mener ce type de ciblage sur des images satellites. Avec l'arrivée des satellites espions européens CSO, qui fourniront un grand volume de données, les équipes d'analystes pourront, en l'état des outils actuels, traiter moins de 10 % des flux, explique Arnaud Guérin. Or, la rapidité d'intervention est clef dans ces missions ».

Expansion américaine

Rapidement identifiée par la Direction générale des Armées, Earthcube a scellé son alliance avec la Direction du renseignement militaire lors du premier défi de l' Intelligence Campus , son pôle dédié aux nouvelles technologies. Mais celle-ci n'est pas exclusive, puisque la start-up a pu se rapprocher d'autres services de renseignement. En 2017, la société a levé 3 millions d'euros. Au départ, pourtant, ils ambitionnaient de s'adresser seulement aux acteurs privés ayant de forts enjeux sécuritaires comme les groupes pétroliers ou nucléaires. « Chez Areva, je faisais mettre en place des systèmes de surveillance au sol pour des sites miniers ou chimiques, poursuit Arnaud Guérin. Mais, quand vous êtes le géant chinois Cnooc, vous devez sécuriser des dizaines de milliers de kilomètres de pipeline. Ces systèmes de surveillance sont vulnérables et onéreux ».

Au lancement d'Earthcube en 2016, ajoute-t-il, « nous nous étions positionnés comme l'alternative non américaine d'analyses de données, mais c'est une illusion de croire que les services de renseignements américains ont une réelle longueur d'avance sur les Européens en la matière », poursuit le dirigeant. Earthcube est ainsi « en discussions avancées » avec des organisations américaines.

Les deux fondateurs ont de sérieuses ambitions, quitte à prendre une référence qui fait polémique en France. « Pour nous, l'américain Palantir est un modèle. En très peu de temps, ils ont réussi à devenir l'égal de géants traditionnels de leur secteur ».

Anne Drif

https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/air-defense/0600634357107-earthcube-la-start-up-francaise-qui-veut-marcher-dans-les-pas-de-palantir-2244076.php

Sur le même sujet

  • Simulation manufacturer expands its footprint in support of Australian Seahawk operations

    1 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial

    Simulation manufacturer expands its footprint in support of Australian Seahawk operations

    By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Synthetic training aids are an integral part of educating the crews that operate Australia's Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters, as its Navy balances training needs against operational requirements for its helicopter fleet. The Royal Australian Navy, or RAN, operates a fleet of 24 MH-60Rs, known locally as the Romeo, from Nowra, south of Australia's largest city Sydney when the helicopters are not deployed at sea. The helicopters were ordered from the United States under the Foreign Military Sales program in 2011 and delivered to Australia between 2013 and 2016. Australia's MH-60Rs are split among two squadrons at the RAN base at Nowra, HMAS Albatross, with the 725 Squadron primarily assigned to training duties, while its sister unit 816 Squadron handles operational duties. According to Cmdr. Stan Buckham, the commanding officer of 725 Squadron, splitting up the fleet into two squadrons allows each to concentrate on their respective primary tasks, while operating next door to each other means they can interact and support one another. Both units operate out of new, purpose-built facilities at the base designed just for the MH-60R. These facilities include a suite of synthetic training devices that have helped the RAN train personnel while reducing demand on the aircraft. This suite of training devices, operated and maintained on site by the Canadian-based CAE, include two tactical operational flight trainers, or TOFT, a composite maintenance trainer, an avionics maintenance weapons loading trainer, and four other devices to train RAN MH-60R pilots, flight crew and maintenance crew. The two TOFTs, which can be linked so crews can operate together, are certified by an independent simulator evaluation authority to level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators. These have six degrees of freedom and can replicate a variety of day, night and weather conditions. CAE is also due to deliver an aircraft flight control system trainer to the RAN, completing its suite of nine training devices to support the country's MH-60R training program. Buckham describes the MH-60R as a “great capability” and has called the work between the RAN and CAE at HMAS Albatross “a step change in integration with industry.” The company has an extensive footprint across Australia and New Zealand, delivering training and simulator services across 13 sites in both countries. Together, these training devices have enabled the RAN to stand up eight flights of MH-60R crew that are either deployed or ready for deployment. Each flight consists of two sets of flight crews and a maintenance team that totals about 18 personnel. The first RAN MH-60R flight deployed onboard an RAN ship in 2016, and have since made numerous deployments onboard various ships to the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/avalon/2019/02/25/simulation-manufacturer-expands-its-footprint-in-support-of-australian-seahawk-operations/

  • America needs to lead in drone warfare

    14 mai 2024 | International, C4ISR

    America needs to lead in drone warfare

    Opinion: Our allies and partners need American-made drones, not Chinese or Iranian ones.

  • US Army cuts current vehicle fleet to make way for next-gen tech

    29 mars 2019 | International, Terrestre

    US Army cuts current vehicle fleet to make way for next-gen tech

    By: Jen Judson Update: This story has been updated to reflect correct procurement numbers for the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMPV). WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has telegraphed its plans to terminate 93 programs and truncate another 93to make room for next-generation technology under ambitious and rapid modernization plans, and the first major programs to feel the ax blows in the next five years are vehicles in the current fleet. According to fiscal 2020 budget request documents released March 12, the service plans to cut back on upgrade plans for its Bradley Fighting Vehicle program, an aging platform in the fleet currently unable to effectively support technology like active protection systems. But the Army is also planning to cut not-so-legacy systems as well — the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMPV) built by BAE Systems and the Oshkosh-manufactured Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) — that recently replaced legacy systems, Army Comptroller Lt. Gen. Thomas Horlander said during a March 12 budget briefing with reporters at the Pentagon. The service has not reached a full-rate production decision for the JLTV. That was pushed back from December 2018 to May 2019 due to new plans to alter the vehicles — to include larger windows and the addition of a muffler — based on soldier feedback. And the first prototype for AMPV — the M113 personnel carrier replacement — rolled off the line in 2016. The budget documents lay out the Army's FY20 plans to cut Bradley A4 upgrade plans from 167 vehicles to 128. The plan is to procure five more sets of Bradley A4 vehicles with one going to pre-positioned stock in Europe and the other four replacing the oldest sets of Bradleys. Then the program will stop around 2023 to make way for the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle, or NGCV, according to Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the Army's G-8 chief. Although the Bradley will be curtailed, Pasquarette noted that its funding in FY20 was up 37 percent from last year at $639 million. While the Army — as of last year — planned to buy 3,035 JLTVs, it now plans to purchase just 2,530 of the vehicles in FY20. Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy told an audience at the McAleese & Associates and Credit Suisse Defense Programs conference in Washington on Wednesday that the service would stop at five brigades of Bradley A4 vehicles. That decision, he said, would sync with an investment increase for the NGCV expected in 2023 and beyond. And while the Army plans to decrease JLTV buys in 2020, cuts will likely not stop there. McCarthy said the Army is looking to lower the requirement for JLTVs and could soon be locking in a new top-line requirement number. Yet, Pasquarette also said at the McAleese conference that the top-line requirement would not change for the JLTV but would just be pushed to the right. McCarthy added that cutting the fleet of JLTVs was justified because the Army has a wealth of vehicles, from 55,000 Humvees, and 49,000 more JLTVs and another 800 Infantry Squad Vehicles planned. “We clearly have more capability than we need,” he said. The AMPV buy holds steady in FY20 at 131 vehicles. The FY19 plan shows the Army wanted to buy 130 vehicles. The five-year plan has yet to be released by the Army, but it's likely to show a decline in AMPV buys following FY20. Pasquarette said the AMPV top-line requirement remains unchanged, but the service was simply slowing the procurement rate per year. The cuts to current programs were made following painstaking deliberations among Army leadership over the course of last year in a forum dubbed “night court.” Through the process, the service measured current capability against its contribution to increasing capability in a modern, more lethal Army, and it terminated or truncated programs that didn't fit the bill. Pasquarette noted that the programs that were fully terminated were small ones that did not contribute to the lethality of the future force. Some of the bigger programs were slowed such as the vehicle programs. Overall, the Army moved an additional $3.6 billion into modernization funding accounts in FY20 over last year's levels — planning to spend $8.6 billion on programs that get after a more modern force. And across the five-year budget plan, the service moved an additional $32 billion to fund modernization efforts beyond what was planned in FY19 for a total of $57 billion. The Army isn't cutting or slowing all of its legacy vehicle systems, Pasquarette noted. The Stryker Double V-Hull (DVH-configuration combat vehicles) will get $550 million per year over the next five years to outfit a half of a Stryker brigade combat team annually. The Abrams tank will receive $1.7 billion in FY20 funding, a 64 percent increase over last year, Pasquarette added. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/federal-budget/2019/03/13/us-army-cuts-current-vehicle-fleet-to-make-way-for-next-gen-tech/

Toutes les nouvelles