France, Germany and Italy has signed a trinational agreement to conduct a definition study of a European developed unmanned aerial sys...
Under the terms of a Declaration of Intent (DoI) signed by the nations today, Europe's leading aerospace companies Airbus Defense and Space, Finmeccanica and Dassault Aviation will conduct a two-year definition study of a Medium Altitude/Long Endurance (MALE) drone. A decision will then be taken on whether to start development and procurement of the system.
The declaration follows the three companies’ submission in May 2014 of a next-generation MALE UAS study proposal envisaging a 24-month “Definition Phase”, immediately followed by a full “Development Phase”, which will allow the delivery of the first solutions in the early 2020s.
The “MALE 2020” Project besides being an answer to European armed forces’ requirements, it will take into account the need to optimize the difficult budgetary situation through pooling of research and development funding. With a sovereign European development, critical requirements around the certification of drones are inherently built into the programme from the onset. MALE 2020 is orientated to foster the development of high technologies and contribute to sustaining key competencies and jobs within Europe.
The MALE category UAV can fly at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.
Currently France and Italy operates a fleet of US made General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones, while Germany operates the Israeli built IAI Heron.
