Eurodrone Unmanned Aerial System

On 19 November 2020, Airbus' Unmanned Aerial Systems reached an agreement with the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) to develop the next-generation medium-altitude, low-endurance (MALE)Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). OCCAR is managing the Eurodrone programme on behalf of the four European partners: Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

The formal contract signing is expected early 2021. According to Airbus’ UAS director Jana Rosenmann, the final assembly line and delivery centre will be at the Airbus hub in Manching/Ingolstadt (Germany).

Certain elements may be manufactured elsewhere, and then transferred to Manching for final assembly and ground testing. The aircraft fuselage will be fully integrated and assembled in Spain, before being transferred to Germany.

The first flight is planned for 2025 and deliveries are expected to start in 2028. The current contract provides for twenty Eurodrone systems, each of which will include three aircraft for a total of 60 twin-engine air platforms. Of notice is that Eurdrone is not the name of the UAS, it is just the programme name.

Germany, as the programme’s lead nation is on contract for seven systems, while Italy has committed to five systems. Spain and France are each targeting four Eurodrone systems.

Image via Meta-Defense.fr