European aerospace giant Airbus has signed a Eurodrone global contract with the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR) for the development and manufacture of 20 drone systems and five years of initial in-service support.
Airbus Defence and Space GmbH signed in representation of the three Major Sub-Contractors (MSC) Airbus Defence and Space S.A.U in Spain, Dassault Aviation in France, and Leonardo S.p.A. in Italy, while OCCAR has signed on behalf of the four launch nations Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Eurodrone is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) with versatile and adaptable capabilities which make it the ideal platform for Intelligence, Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions or homeland security operations. Its open architecture part of the future-proof design will enable growth and rescoping system capabilities as determined by the future needs of armed forces customers.
It is the first MALE designed from the start to meet requirements for integration into civil airspace, helping to improve efficiencies such as use of direct flight paths, without the need for pre-planned emergency landing sites, thus saving time, fuel and, as a result, CO2 emissions. Eurodrone relies on Digital Design, Manufacturing and Services (DDMS), a new, digital-first approach applied by Airbus to the way aerospace products are designed, manufactured and operated throughout all product phases. Eurodrone is the first programme that will be fully designed and developed from the start through DDMS in a stepped approach and aims to benefit from better upgrade planning, improved operational availability and lower life-cycle costs.