Dassault nEUROn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_nEUROn

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, German/Spanish EADS
Barracuda, American Boeing X-45 and Northrop Grumman X-47B, the Indian DRDO
AURA, and the Russian Mikoyan Skat and Sukhoi Okhotnik.

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.

According to the DGA, nEUROn test flights were planned in France, Sweden and
Italy in early 2010, but were delayed. Its first flight was at the end of 2012.
While nEUROn was on display at the Paris Air Show 2013, it did not fly due to
reluctance by European civil aviation authorities to allow UAVs to fly out of
closed airspace.

Flight testing

The nEUROn made its first flight on December 1, 2012 in France. Flight trials in
France to open its flight envelope and evaluate its stealth characteristics were
successfully completed in March 2015. These tests were followed by sensor
evaluation trials in Italy, which were completed on August 25, 2015. The last
leg of flight trials take place in Sweden and will include live fire trials.

In July 2016 extensive stealth and detection tests were conducted with the
nEUROn and the Charles de Gaulle carrier group. The nEUROn was to penetrate the
aircraft carrier defensive area to test its stealth and the capacity of the
carrier group to detect it.


Role
Experimental stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle

National origin
Multi-national

Manufacturer
Dassault Aviation

First flight
1 December 2012

Status
In development

Unit cost

€25 million


Developed from
AVE-C Moyen Duc

Funding

The contract is valued at €405 million, and allows industry to begin a
three-year system definition and design phase with related low-observability
studies. This phase will be followed by the development and assembly phase, and
by a first flight in 2011. It is planned that the 2-year flight-test program
(2010–2012) will entail about 100 sorties, including the launch of a
laser-guided bomb tentatively scheduled for 2012. The initial €400 million
budget was increased by €5 million in 2006 due to the addition of a modular bomb
bay including a designator and a laser-guided bomb.

In February 2006, DGA had announced that France will provide €202.5 million,
half of the program's €405 million ($480 million) budget, while the remaining
funds will be supplied by the other participating member nations. In December
2005, the Swedish defence ministry reported the national share would be €75
million, of which €66 million would be financed by Saab AB. The cost of Spain's
participation to the program is estimated at €35.5 million, spread over the
2007–2012 period.

Derived production UCAV unit cost is estimated by Dassault to be €25 million.

Specifications

General characteristics
Crew: 0
Length: 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 12.5 m (41 ft 0 in)
Empty weight: 4900 kg (10803 lb)
Gross weight: 7000 kg (15432 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce/Turboméca Adour, 40 kN (8992 lbf) thrust

Performance
Maximum speed: 980 km/h (609 mph)
Service ceiling: 14,000 m (45900 ft)

Armament
2 × 230 kg (500 lb) guided bombs




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