Aircraft
EADS Forges Ahead with Barracuda UCAV Trials
EADS Cassidian displayed the third prototype Barracuda UAV at the ILA Berlin airshow last week. (Photo: Chris Pocock)
EADS Cassidian displayed the third prototype Barracuda UAV at the ILA Berlin airshow last week. (Photo: Chris Pocock)

EADS Cassidian reports positive results from a third flight-test campaign conducted recently from Goose Bay, Canada, with the second prototype Barracuda UAV. Five flights during June and July each lasted up to one hour and proved various new mission modes, including autonomous 4-D navigation and cooperative flying with a second UAV. Unlike the previous two campaigns in 2009 and 2010, the latest flights were funded entirely by the company. EADS believes that it is leading the development of such operations in Europe, pending the first flights of the BAE Systems Taranis and multinational Neuron UCAVs.