Aircraft
Euro-MALE UAS Project Still Awaiting Action
Germany will take funding lead for the project definition contract – but it has not yet been negotiated
This is a notional impression of the Euro-MALE provided by Dassault Aviation, one of the three industrial partners.
This is a notional impression of the Euro-MALE provided by Dassault Aviation, one of the three industrial partners.

Progress toward an all-European medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAS remains very slow, despite last week’s announcement that Germany would take the lead in the unmanned aircraft program and that Spain had joined. France and Italy are the other two nations that have agreed to fund a project definition (PD) study by an industrial partnership among Airbus Defence and Space; Dassault Aviation; and Finmeccanica. But it is now 19 months since the partners submitted their outline PD proposal; seven months since the nations agreed to go ahead; the contract might not be signed for another six months; and the UAS may not be ready for service until 2025.