Models
1
Overview
Exail is a French high-tech industrial company led by Chairman and CEO Raphael Gorge, specializing in cutting-edge robotics, maritime, navigation, and photonics technologies. The company develops unmanned underwater vehicles (AUVs) and unmanned surface vehicles, and was selected to develop the French Navy's ultra-deepwater AUV.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
DEPLOY Intelligence
Market intelligence for physical AI
Analyst-grade signals, competitive tracking, and investment context across the global physical AI landscape. Launching 2026.
Key facts
Formed
CEO
Product
Customers
Patents
Products
Customer
Applications
Acquisition
Revenue growth
Financial stage
Data & sources
Press releases
2
Web sources
1
3 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about Exail, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
- What is a maritime robot?
A maritime robot is an autonomous uncrewed vehicle (USV surface + AUV/UUV subsea) operating in the maritime regulatory regime for ocean data collection + commercial + defense operations. Per DEPLOY's framework, the cohort enumerates as: surface×commercial (Saildrone fleet) + surface×defense (Saronic Corsair/Mirage/Marauder) + subsea×defense triad (Anduril Dive-LD + Anduril Ghost Shark + HII REMUS) + subsea×commercial (Bedrock Ocean) + autonomy-system (Sea Machines) + hybrid surface+subsea (Ocean Aero Triton) + legacy-prime entity-scoped (Kongsberg HUGIN AUV + Exail DriX USV). Editorial throughlines: regime matrix (surface×commercial vs surface×defense vs subsea×commercial vs subsea×defense vs autonomy-system vs hybrid); new-defense maritime extension (Saronic + Anduril extend Anduril+Helsing+Shield-AI new-defense from aerial into water, contrasting HII REMUS legacy prime); entity-scoping discipline (registry entity scoped to AI-primary vehicle not parent corp); captive-data-as-a-service vs hardware-sale vs autonomy-system-vendor business-model split.
- What is Exail DriX?
Exail DriX is a French dual-use (commercial+defense) unmanned surface vehicle (USV) product. CRITICAL ENTITY SCOPE per Agent A maritime source-depth hygiene: vehicle-level entity scope (DriX USV), NOT Exail parent corporation (parallel vehicle-not-conglomerate scoping discipline to Kongsberg HUGIN). DriX operates international commercial + defense dual-use surface autonomous vehicle deployment. Cohort positioning: international commercial+dual-use surface archetype within the maritime cluster; preserves entity-scoping framework discipline alongside HUGIN AUV vehicle-scope precedent.
Current leadership (2)
- Fabien Baguenard ctosecondary-verified
- Jean-Michel Ghidaglia ceosince 2022-01-01secondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Exail.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Exail in third-party press
Peer companies
- Saildrone4 models
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- Sea Machines Robotics2 models
Supplies to (1)
Sensors
- Bedrock AUVby Bedrock OceanExail Phins 9 Compact INS -- inertial navigation system for Bedrock next-generation seafloor survey AUVsupplies
Outbound supply edges from this company. Each relationship appears here when verified with at least two strong sources (maker-official / IR / regulatory / standards-body / verified tier-2). Sources are append-only; corrections add new sources rather than rewrite history.
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_disclosed
- Revenue disclosed
- $542900000 (private_disclosed)
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 4, 2026
Exail DriX uncrewed surface vessel
- Record createdJun 3, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (3)
- https://www.exail.com/product-range/drix-series-uncrewed-surface-vessels
- https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/updates/noaa-ship-thomas-jefferson-tests-innovative-drix-autonomous-surface-vehicle/
- https://www.exail.com/news/noaa-ocean-exploration-cooperative-institute-chooses-drix-usv-help-build-next-generation-ocean
Common questions
- What is Exail?
- Exail is a French high-tech industrial company led by Chairman and CEO Raphael Gorge, specializing in cutting-edge robotics, maritime, navigation, and photonics technologies. The company develops unmanned underwater vehicles (AUVs) and unmanned surface vehicles, and was selected to develop the French Navy's ultra-deepwater AUV.
- What does Exail make?
- Exail has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: DriX (Exail builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
- Is Exail publicly traded?
- Exail is not independently listed on public markets; it is part of Thales on the DEPLOY registry.
- Who competes with Exail?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Exail building in the same form factors include Saildrone, Saronic Technologies, BAE Systems, Kongsberg Maritime.
- Who is the CEO of Exail?
- Jean-Michel Ghidaglia is the ceo of Exail, per the DEPLOY registry.
- How can I invest in Exail?
- Exail has no separately traded stock; it is owned by Thales (the parent is the entity that trades, where it is public).
- Where is Exail headquartered?
- Exail is headquartered in La Garde, Var, France.
- Who owns Exail?
- Exail is owned by Thales, per the DEPLOY registry.
- Where does Exail operate robots?
- Exail is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
- Is Exail a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Exail ranks in roughly the top 41% of companies tracked by the registry.
- When was Exail founded?
- Exail was founded in 2022.
- Is Exail safe?
- Exail has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (2 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-18
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-18
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Exail.Peer companies
- Saildrone4 models
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- Sea Machines Robotics2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Exail from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Thales acquires Exail Technologies stake as it expands undersea warfare footprint
Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri also announced today an agreement to acquire four underwater technology firms.
Thales to buy French underwater-drone maker Exail in $4.5 billion deal
Industry champions in France and Italy move to consolidate their positions in a growing market for unmanned underwater naval equipment.
Thales to buy French underwater-drone maker Exail in $4.5 billion deal
Industry champions in France and Italy move to consolidate their positions in a growing market for unmanned underwater naval equipment.
Exail Q4 2025: revenue growth of 26%
Exail reported 26% revenue growth in Q4 2025, developing maritime unmanned systems (autonomous surface drones, underwater drones) for mine countermeasures and surveillance…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/exail.md
- RSS feed: /companies/exail/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/5726dfb7-bbf6-4355-a461-63de461da77f
- Revision history: /companies/exail/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Saildrone4 models
- Saronic Technologies4 models
- BAE Systems3 models
- Kongsberg Maritime3 models
- Rekise Marine3 models
- Sea Machines Robotics2 models
Video
Discover Exail's brand new factory in Ostend, Belgium with Steven Luys, CEO of Exail Robotics Belgium and Antony Penn, CCO of Exail. This state-of-the-art facil
A Mine Identification and Disposal System (MIDS) for mine countermeasure missions
UMIS is a state-of-the-art robotic system designed for comprehensive Mine Countermeasures. It integrates Exail’s naval drones—USVs, AUVs, and ROVs—with towed so
USV/AUV collaborative capabilities: ECA Group and iXblue demonstrate new possibilities for seabed exploration. In seabed warfare, the area of operation varies
As the first deliveries for the Belgian-Dutch #rMCM program approach, activity at our Ostend facility is in full swing. From concept to reality, this is where n
Exail, a leading provider of maritime autonomy solutions, has unveiled its new transoceanic Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV), the DriX O-16. Benefiting from an aut
Exail's H800 is an Observation and light duty Work Class ROV. Particularly suitable for subsea observation, inspection to light underwater works, Exail's H800 R
The Exail's R7 is a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) which combines the compactness and ease of deployment of mini-ROVs with the performance, speed and payload c
Exail Technologies is a high-tech company specializing in maritime robotics and navigation systems, with advanced vertical integration in cutting-edge technolog
Reality vs attention
Exail draws attention at the 90th percentile but verifies reality at the 35th percentile among maritime_surface robots. Hype Gap +54.3, 2nd widest among maritime_surface robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 19, 2026