A disagreement between Airbus and Dassault Aviation is threatening the timeline for the development of the four-nation Eurodrone, a German defense ministry report has revealed.
Describing the issue as “coordination problems,” the German Defense Ministry’s 2024 armaments report says the disagreement could impact the upcoming critical design review (CDR) that is contractually planned for next September. The preliminary design review (PDR) has already been delayed. It was expected in late 2023.
Airbus Defense and Space, the program’s prime contractor, is trying to solve the problems “comprehensively and promptly,” the report says. The CDR is the first milestone in which the nations could terminate the program if they wish to do so.
No details have been revealed about the cause of the problems. But parallels can be drawn with the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which also faced derailment over a disagreement between Airbus and Dassault about the development of flight control systems for the future crewed combat aircraft. The dispute added a yearlong delay to the development of the FCAS demonstrator by the time the deadlock was resolved in November 2022.
The Eurodrone development is being led by Airbus in Germany with support from Dassault, Leonardo of Italy and Airbus in Spain. It has been signposted as a pathfinder for FCAS to ensure that industry can work together on a multinational program. Germany will be the largest customer, buying seven systems, so it secured the program’s final assembly line. Dassault’s work share includes development of the safe flight and landing systems as well as communications maintenance elements. According to the reports published in aviationweek.com .
The twin-engine, 11-metric-ton, medium-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) was proposed by industry as a means of preserving a European UAS development capability at a time when European governments were buying U.S. and Israeli platforms. First proposed in 2013, the €7.1 billion ($7.72 billion) program was finally contracted in early 2021. Work on the first prototype air vehicle will begin in 2024. Its first flight is set for January 2027, with deliveries to follow in 2030, the German armament report says. Twenty systems are on order for the partner nations—France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Each system will feature three air vehicles.
