Sébastien Lecornu, French Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, has announced the launch of the development of an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) that will complement the future Rafale F5 standard after 2030.
The announcement was made during a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the French Strategic Air Forces (FAS) at the Saint-Dizier air base, attended by General Jérôme Bellanger, Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force (AAE), and Éric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation.
“This stealth combat drone will contribute to the technological and operational superiority of the French Air Force by 2033. It is significant that it is being initiated today, as we mark the 60th anniversary of the Strategic Air Forces and the 90th anniversary of the Air and Space Force: in aeronautics — a highly complex field — the future has deep roots, and innovation is built on experience. Dassault Aviation and its partners are proud to serve the French Armed Forces and the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA). Their renewed confidence honours and obliges us,” stated Éric Trappier.
The new UCAV will be complementary to the Rafale and designed for collaborative combat. It will incorporate stealth technologies, autonomous control (with man-in-the-loop), internal payload capacity, and more. Highly versatile, it will be capable of adapting to future threats.
The project will build on the achievements of the nEUROn programme, Europe’s first stealth UCAV demonstrator and will ensure France’s continued technological and operational superiority in the coming decades, similar to the role the Mirage IV once played.
Initiated in 2003, the nEUROn programme brought together the aeronautics resources of six European countries, with project management led by Dassault Aviation. The programme achieved its maiden flight in December 2012 and has since completed over 170 test flights, meeting all its performance, timeline and budgetary objectives.
