France backs UAV project to bridge capability gap between Europe and USA
France has announced a €300 million ($360 million) project to proceed with the construction of the European medium-altitude, long-endurance (Euromale) unmanned air vehicle demonstrator by 2008. The project will be led by EADS, with involvement from Dassault Aviation, Sagem and Thales. Negotiations continue with Italy, Spain and Sweden about possible financial and industrial participation.
EADS co-chief executive Philippe Camus says Euromale "will enable Europe to bridge the gap that was growing in our capacity for strategic surveillance", and notes that the UAV "will give an operational answer to armed forces Europe-wide". He says the US Air Force will this year accept the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' MQ-9A Predator B into operational service "and if we want Europe's €1.5-2 billion UAV market to stay in Europe we have to have a European product to offer in competition."
Dassault is responsible for the Euromale's airframe and flight envelope. It says the demonstrator will be "an operational standard 0, which will enable us to rapidly develop production, with first deliveries to armed forces from 2010".
EADS will provide €100 million for the Euromale project. "We consider this to be a strategic investment in a European research project, given that the accessible global UAV market [discounting the US, Russian, Chinese and some other markets] amounts to about €3 billion over 10 years," Camus says. The French government will invest €75 million in the demonstrator and the remaining €125 million will be provided by other countries.
Camus says talks with Saab are "advanced" and that Sweden's Ericsson, the Netherlands' Stork and Italy's Finmeccanica are also interested. Depending on the strength of multinational involvement, a joint-venture project office could be established after 2007.
Euromale will have a maximum take-off weight of 3,900kg (8,600lb), payload of up to 450kg, wingspan of 26m (85ft) and will cruise at 45,000ft. It will have a range of 4,500km (2,430nm) at speeds up to Mach 0.4 and a mission endurance of up to 24h.
The design is baselined against the EADS/Israel Aircraft Industries Eagle 1 UAV, which will enter operational service with the French and Netherlands air forces in 2005. France wants up to 24 Euromale air vehicles in operational service by 2010 to augment its Eagle 1 fleet and to provide a stepping stone to the development of a wholly European high-altitude long-endurance UAV surveillance system.
Source: Flight International
