PARIS - BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation could deliver a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system in 2016 if Britain and France sign a joint development and production contract this year, company executives said June 8.
The two companies could design and build in five years a new 8-ton, twin-propeller surveillance air vehicle with 24-hour endurance, Dassault international director Eric Trappier told journalists.
BAE, the British aerospace giant, and Dassault, the French aircraft maker, unveiled the name of their joint UAV project, dubbed Telemos, for which a full-scale model will go on static display at the Paris Air Show, which opens June 20.
"We're ready," Trappier said. "If a contract were signed in 2011, we could deliver in 2016."
The planned drone also would be designed to carry a range of bombs, such as the GBU and armement air-sol modulaire (AASM) precision weapons.
The design teams would be staff members with combat aircraft experience at BAE and Dassault, and would vary between 50 to 100 personnel.
Peter Richardson, BAE's director of staff and technology, said that since money is tight, the UAV would be built under "a fully integrated program." There would be flexibility for national requirements for mission systems and sensors, but the aim would be to "eliminate duplication," he said.
London and Paris would need to each invest 500 million euros ($731.9 million) in the program, which would include design, development, build and support, Trappier said.
The companies hope for a quick launch decision by London and Paris, which identified cross-channel cooperation on a MALE UAV, and later a combat unmanned air system, in the bilateral defense treaty they signed last November.
Asked if there is room in the project for EADS, Trappier said if EADS has equipment and competences, it could take part, but the two companies leading the project are BAE and Dassault.
In a June 7 closed-door session, EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois told members of the French parliament's defense committee that if Britain and France go ahead with the BAE-Dassault offer, the European defense company would be forced to pursue its own MALE UAV effort, an industry executive said. The EADS project would be based on the company's Talarion Advanced UAV, the executive said.
Rival UAV offers from BAE-Dassault and EADS would repeat the competition between the Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale twin-engine combat jets, which should be avoided, Gallois said.
Trappier said, "It's better to have two competing offers than zero offers."
French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet told the lawmakers he wanted to speed up the work with the British partners on defining the requirement for the MALE drone, newsweekly Le Point reported.
Asked about a possible role for Italian industry, Trappier said, "This is the locomotive." The program would be open to other partners. "We are not against Europe," he said.
For the UAV's engines, Rolls-Royce and Safran could collaborate, but there also is a Canadian option, while Thales and Selex UK could work jointly on the aircraft's radar, Trappier said.
Telemos is the name in Greek mythology of a Cyclops sentinel who warned of an attack by the warrior-wanderer Ulysses. That classical reference illustrates the drone's ability to anticipate events, Trappier said.
Notwithstanding that alert, Ulysses outwitted Polyphemus, put out his single eye with a red-hot pointed olive stake and escaped
No comments:
Post a Comment