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Representatives of the countries involved in the production of the future “Eurodrone” gathered in Hallbergmoos, Bavaria, at the end of February for the first board meeting since the project was launched two years ago.
Hosted by the Organization for Combined Arms Cooperation (“OCCAR” in French), the project manager responsible for platform development introduced the latest results and progress in the development process.
A consortium of the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy and Spain (with Japan as an observer state) will work with sovereign industry partners to deliver Europe’s unique Medium Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (MALE RPAS).
The program was launched in 2016 and has been followed by various design reviews, including a 2018 definition study defining common requirements between France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Over the next two years, we focused on global contracts with Airbus Defense and Space as prime contractor, Airbus Defense and Space SAU as main subcontractors, Leonardo and Dassault Aviation negotiation. It covers development, production and initial in-service support of 20 systems.
The partners have since successfully completed preliminary and critical design reviews. We now expect manufacturing of the first prototype to begin this year.
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By Global Data
Notably, OCCAR also stipulates that Eurodrone will serve as an unmanned collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) system within the trilateral Future Combat Air System (FCAS). In this alternative, France, Germany and Spain would create a “system of systems” with a network-centric hybrid force structure centered around sixth-generation fighter jets.
Eurodrone Features
Due to be completed in 2027 and first operational in 2028, with initial operational capability in 2030, Eurodrone Partners will contribute to a user ecosystem in which all participants are motivated by availability and maintenance pool resources for a purpose.
The schedule was established before the Covid-19 pandemic and has remained unchanged since the 2020 contract came into effect. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish between other causes such as Covid-19 production delays and poor coordination.
GlobalData defense analyst Wilson Jones explained that the Eurodrone consists of a “twin-engine MALE”, which makes it very different from the American Reaper and Predator models, which are often described as “MALES.”
“The twin-engine design seemed to have caused a lot of controversy during development because it increased unit weight and cost. Germany was responsible for this design requirement because they planned to use it for urban missions, and the failure of a single engine would result in a loss of control over densely populated areas. areas crashed. At the same time, France is planning missions in Saharan Africa, where low population density means this is not a problem and they are very critical,” he added.
“More engines mean more weight and more thrust, and may mean that the Eurodrone can carry more and heavier weapons, but will limit the combat range. However, since the first flight is planned for 2025, so We won’t know until then.”
National specification differences
In January 2023, Hensoldt, a smaller German subcontractor, was awarded a €15 million ($16.2 million) contract from the Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and Active Support Office to develop a pod demonstration that could be integrated into sensor technology in the device to provide signals intelligence configured by Germany’s Eurodrone.
Hensoldt’s sensor technology can be used for radio and radar signal reconnaissance and is based on a number of latest technologies, including digitization, electron beam steering and metal 3D printing. This constitutes a highly specific configuration change that differs from other consumer systems.
This example of disagreement may not be the last. As Europe’s notoriously efficient project manager, OCCAR needed to prevent country specifications from changing during the manufacturing phase.
Although the program met its key design specifications several years ago and is now about to begin building prototypes, participating member states may have new ideas for their systems in the past two years since the contract was formalized.
“This is the first time in history that we’ve seen similar countries use drones on a large scale in a conflict.”
Wilson Jones, Global Data Defense Analyst.
Jones agreed that OCCAR would need to withstand pressure for design changes: “I would almost certainly say that, although I think the conflict in Ukraine would be the more relevant reason.
“This is the first time in history that we have seen similar countries use drones on a large scale in a conflict. U.S. Drone Operations [in Afghanistan] In a situation of complete air superiority. Ukraine and Russia have both lost hundreds of drones of various types. “
At the same time, the members involved undoubtedly learned lessons from the war in Eastern Europe.
“What those specifications are, we can only speculate,” Jones noted. “But I would guess something that would ensure survivability. If someone tried to shoot down the Eurodrone, some kind of countermeasure to keep it flying? Maybe the second engine would come into play.”
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