Euro Drone Studies To Launch This Summer

A European sovereignty underpins the project, as the UAV would be equipped to avoid the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations, a source close to the project said.

Italy."The Paris Air Show in June will be a major rendezvous for our defense industries," Le Drian said. "It will be a significant step on the road to producing a European drone, as we will sign then an agreement in principle on the launch of studies".

A third US-built Reaper UAV will be delivered next month, and the second order for a three-strong batch will be made in the summer, he said.

A recent The French order of the US-built General Atomics Reaper "slightly traumatized us" as industry had been working on UAVs for some time, Dassault Aviation chairman Eric Trappier said March 11. That French acquisition of the Reaper is a temporary measure and it is time for the Europeans to prepare for the future, he said.

A third US-built Reaper UAV will be delivered next month, and the second order for a three-strong batch will be made in the summer, Le Drianhe said.

An order for the studies would be worth in the 10tens of millions of euros, he said. The companies have agreed to share the work and it is up to the administrations to make the political, budgetary and operational choices.

Last year, saw the start of discussions with the French, German and Italian defense ministries began discussions on the definition phase of the project based on the industrial proposal, Dassault said in its 2014 financial results. The company hopes this year will bring the green light for the definition phase.

Trappier was speaking on presentation of the 2014 results. Dassault partnered in 2013 with Airbus Defence and Space, and Alenia Aermacchi to pitch the next generation MALE 2020 project to France, Germany and Italy.

One of the issues for Germany is the capability for arming the planned UAV, which poses little problem for France and ItalyGermany, said Christian Mölling, defense analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin.

There is a pPublic opinion is against that arming and the government will have to deal with rather than avoid the issue, not avoid it, he said.

There are also qQuestions also remain on the whether there is a business case for a European drone. "Where is the demand?" he said.

The industry source said there are unofficial estimates for a world market of 300-400 units. France and Germany could each buy 20-30 units and Italy 5 five to 20, other European Union countries 20 to 50, and the Middle East, Latin America and Asia 200-300.

An analyst said industry has estimatesd production of at least 400 units is needed to be "economically feasible."

There is also uncertainty over what the functions would be on a next-generation UAV as the military is are still exploring the different scenarios for the present first generation or 1.5 generation Reapers, Mölling said. The conflict in Ukraine is seen by some as the limit as there are fears the UAV would be shot down by air defense systemsor manpads, he said.

The definition report is expected to run for 24 months, and development would take place be over five to six years, the industry source said.

Airbus DS would be lead on the study, reflecting almost a decade of research and development on the Talarion MALE UAV. Airbus spent a reported €250 million of its own funds on the Talarion, with some estimates going higher, before the company closed the project due to the lack of a government order.

Industry sees the wWork on Talarion and Dassault's work on the Neuron combat UAV technology demonstrator will deliver 80 percent of the research and development. The three European companies have agreed to an equal split of workshare.

The planned UAV would be powered by a twin-jet system that which would generate electricity for the onboard sensors and communications and deliver the reliability vital for flying in the skies over Europe.

France has flown the Harfang MALE UAV on civil missions including last year's the public events of the 70th anniversary last year of D-Day on the Normandy beaches.

Industry sees the UAV project as key to maintain engineering skills and employment. But even if the UAV were to enter production, it is not clear there would significant employment is not guaranteed, Mölling said.