The European Defence Agency and the European Commission are planning a joint development programme for a new long-endurance unmanned air vehicle, with initial funding starting in 2008.
Plans are also being prepared for the launch of a UAV-based maritime surveillance system for Europe based on a combination of endurance and tactical-class platforms.
The new endurance UAV would seek support civil and military applications and use a modular design approach to allow maximum commonality between variants. Development of the air vehicle will be led by the EC, while military aspects of the project such as payloads will be led by the EDA.
Funding for the project is expected to run to millions of euros, with European aerospace and defence companies expected to part-finance the effort. Initial talks have been held with the peak European AeroSpace and Defence (ASD) industries association of Europe says the Belgian army’s Col Maurice de Langlois, EDA capability manager for engage and area protection.
The ASD was invited by the EC to provide detailed proposals in February, with that organisation designating Alenia Aeronautica as its industrial co-ordinator.
The EDA plans to hold a major industry briefing for the project in early June to help engage European research agencies and second and third tier suppliers.
The new endurance UAV project flows out of the collapse of the French DGA-initiated Euromale development last year, which folded due to major cost and schedule hurdles. De Langlois says that the EDA has considered options for a relaunch of Euromale, but this is considered to be "difficult".
The EDA has also explored a development pathway based on the EADS "Advanced UAV" modular system being jointly discussed by France, Germany and Spain as a common development programme, leveraging work initially carried out on the EADS Barracuda new-generation UAV programme.
However, speaking at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's Unmanned Systems Europe 2007 conference in Cologne, Germany, de Langlois said the timeframes associated with Advanced UAV currently differ from those planned for the joint EDA-EC project. “For the time being they have some problem with harmonisation of their own requirements.”
The EDA is considering a potential role on Advanced UAV if that programme proceeds: “This project is not under the lead of the EDA for the time being, but maybe in the future,” de Langlois says.
Links between EC funding for the new development programme and the European Framework Seven research and technology programme are still being developed. Some enabling technologies could be incorporated under the Framework Seven transport allocations, particularly in terms of airworthiness requirements, says de Langlois: “I hope that they will support some other UAV initiatives.”
The proposed maritime surveillance system is intended to support European border security efforts and will the focus of a fast track development strategy.
The two-tier architecture is expected to include the new long-endurance platform, but with the tactical system being given immediate precedence. “We would like to have the opportunity to launch a programme for an initial capability for the maritime tactical UAV in 2012,” says de Langlois.
“This is on very short notice, but we are confident that with the support of industry, the European industry, we will be able to achieve this capability on time in 2012.”
Source: FlightGlobal.com
