3 QUESTIONS TO
JEAN-FRANÇOIS MONTANIÉ
& HENRI DE FOUCAULD
Co-founders

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF ATHANOR ENGINEERING?

We created ATHANOR Engineering in 2016 after we left the French Navy in order to give a commercial follow-up to the innovations we had designed and developed with the support of the Defence Innovation Agency (at the time the “Mission for Participative Innovation”) during our last years in the French Navy. The cornerstone of these innovations is a Warship type AIS transponder specially designed for the needs of the French Navy. Named AIS/X, this equipment is currently being deployed on all the Navy’s surface vessels and nuclear attack submarines.

WHAT ARE YOUR STRONG POINTS?

ATHANOR Engineering bases its activity on our expertise in the air-sea environment and our know-how as innovators. We propose technical solutions that present a breakthrough in terms of the ratio “added value on cost of ownership”. To achieve this, we run a network of engineers and technicians with skills in systems engineering, electronics, radio frequency and computer architecture. ATHANOR is a member of the Mediterranean Sea cluster, GICAN and System Factory.

WHAT ARE YOUR INNOVATIONS ABOUT?

In the field of maritime security, ATHANOR Engineering has developed, in addition to AIS/X, a network of on-board beacons enabling ships to exchange their position in real time and be automatically alerted to the appearance of a threat. Using the communication protocol of the AIS system, this “Waze” type network is called SeaWatch® and is the subject of a patent application, which has already attracted the attention of organisations and industrialists for the surveillance of offshore areas, offshore wind farms or navigation in areas with a high risk of piracy. ATHANOR has thus been declared the winner of the PSPC Regions 2019 call for projects with the ENDOUME solution, dedicated to maritime surveillance and coordination of resources in the area.