Dassault nEURON
| nEUROn | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| nEUROn at Paris Air Show 2013 | |
| Role | Experimental stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle |
| Manufacturer | Dassault Aviation |
| First flight | 1 December 2012 |
| Unit cost |
€25 million
|
| Developed from | AVE-C Moyen Duc |
The Dassault nEUROn is an experimental unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) being developed with international cooperation, led by the French company Dassault Aviation. Countries involved in this project include France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The design goal is to create a stealthy, autonomous UAV that can function in medium- to high-threat combat zones. Comparable projects include the British BAE Systems Taranis, American Boeing X-45 and Northrop Grumman X-47B, the Indian DRDO AURA, and the Russian MiG Skat.
The industrial goal is to give European firms experience designing and building high-end UAVs and associated technologies, in order to keep them competitive in the global marketplace. The first flight took place on December 1, 2012.
This flying wing stealth UCAV project is the final phase of the French Dassault LOGIDUC 3-step stealth "combat drone" programme. Until June 2005 it had the form of the original Dassault developed Grand Duc vehicle: supersonic two-engined long-range unmanned bomber, capable of performing attacks with nuclear weapons.
Under pressure of the international cooperation, especially from Sweden and Saab, it was transformed into a demonstrator of smaller single-engine technology. Thus it is now optimised for the testing of various technologies for the future UAVs and UCAVs, and will not enter serial production. It will, however, clear the way for a commercial product, which will use the technologies developed thanks to the nEUROn program. The full-scale replica of the current configuration was unveiled at the Paris Air Show 2005.
The nEUROn development, originally planned by Dassault as "AVE Grand Duc", evolved into a European cooperation including Swedish Saab AB, Greek EAB, Swiss RUAG Aerospace, Spanish EADS CASA and Italian Alenia (today Leonardo-Finmeccanica's Aircraft Division), with Dassault as the lead contractor. As a "technology demonstrator", only one vehicle will be produced to explore new operational concepts for a future generation of autonomous stealth fighter aircraft that will be produced beyond 2020. This is advocated by the statement that the industrial partners want to invest more in technology development, rather than manufacturing of the flying hardware and weapons, despite the risk of the loss of the single prototype.
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