{"id":44760,"date":"2020-09-18T15:56:49","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T15:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/18\/german-french-defense-ministers-push-for-eurodrone-progress\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:42:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:42:05","slug":"german-french-defense-ministers-push-for-eurodrone-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2020\/09\/18\/german-french-defense-ministers-push-for-eurodrone-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"German, French defense ministers push for Eurodrone progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 The defense ministers of Germany and France have pushed for speedy progress in the Eurodrone program, urging member nations to initiate the aircraft\u2019s development phase before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high-level endorsement means a shot in the arm for a weapons program that has slipped under the radar since Airbus, Dassault and Leonardo unveiled a mock-up drone<\/a> at the April 2018 Berlin Air Show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said she hopes to see the next phase begin by year\u2019s end, her German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, expressed hope any outstanding issues, which mostly involve cost, could be resolved \u201cin the next few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two leaders spoke at Manching, Germany, Airbus’ hub for the Eurodrone project and a company site for another key European program, the Future Combat Air System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unmanned aircraft\u2019s official name is \u201cEuropean MALE RPAS,\u201d using acronyms for medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft system. The pan-European Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation manages it on behalf of Germany, France, Italy and Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drone program sets out to field the first new unmanned aircraft certified to fully integrate into civilian airspace, though European authorities have not yet finalized the requisite regulatory framework. Company officials hope that key design features of the drone, such as a propulsion system of two engines \u2014 one as a fallback, if necessary \u2014 will be conducive to passing future safety checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means the technology could cut into the business strategy of American competitor General Atomics. The company aims to be the first to sell its drones, complete with automatic collision-avoidance kit, to Europeans.<\/p>\n\n\n\t