Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group (EADSF.PK,EADSY.PK), Dassault Aviation (DUAVF.PK) and Alenia Aermacchi, a Finmeccanica company, delivered a proposal for further defining a European Unmanned Aerial System or UAS to the Ministry of Defence of France, Germany and Italy.
The offer proposes a Definition Phase which has been prepared by joint development teams of Airbus Defence and Space, Dassault Aviation and Alenia Aermacchi and which is backed by an industrial agreement on workshare and a cooperative agreement to start the MALE2020 program.
The definition phase foresees that the three nations define and adjust their requirements for a European UAS development together with their armed forces and the European industry. The definition phase also serves to avoid costly additional developments during production and to reduce financial and development risks to a minimum. A commitment by the nations on the further development of the European UAS has then to be made after finalizing this definition phase: the plan of the Industries leads to an affordable and certifiable solution ready by 2020.
Several European nations announced their requirement for unmanned aerial systems. Also the results of the EU Defence Summit in december 2013 allude to an urgent need. The Conclusions of the European Council recognize the development of a MALE UAS as a key capability for European defence.
Dassault Aviation said that the timeframe of the decision to launch the European UAS is now critical in order to meet this goal.
The MALE 2020 Project foresees the development of an European Unmanned Aerial System for long-range missions at medium flight altitudes or MALE. With a souvereign 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.
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