Greece's defence ministry has signed a letter of intent with France's DGA procurement agency to join a European team that will develop an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator through a project launched by French defence minister Michèle Alliot-Marie at last June's Paris air show.
The amount of money being invested by Greece is "substantial" the DGA says, but will not give a precise figure. Dassault Aviation is the prime contractor on the €300 million ($370 million) project, and was recently joined by Saab (Flight International, 6-12 January). Hellenic Aerospace Industries (HAI) is now expected to participate during the design and construction of the UCAV demonstrator, which is expected to first fly in 2008.
Dassault says the memorandum of understanding with HAI is in the final stages of negotiations and should be signed by mid-February. "With each new partner the procedure is the same: the signature of an inter-governmental agreement, the letter of intent, followed by an industrial agreement and the memorandum of understanding," Dassault says.
A number of other European countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and Spain are also negotiating participation in the UCAV project, says Dassault.
Source: Flight International
