France gauges a new crop of MALE drones for surveillance, strike

PARIS — France asked five local companies to develop demonstrators for a medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, signing contracts at the Paris Air Show this week as the country seeks a low-cost solution to plug a capability gap in unmanned aerial surveillance and light attack.

France’s Directorate General for Armament will subsidize work by aircraft makers Aura Aero, Daher and SE Aviation, drone maker Fly-R and aerospace company Turgis Gaillard to produce competing MALE drone demonstrators as early as 2026, the agency said June 18.

The market for MALE drones is evolving rapidly as the war in Ukraine shows their effectiveness as well as limitations. Meanwhile, the number of offerings of affordable platforms is growing, with countries such as France and Turkey focusing on developing domestic capabilities in the area. Companies at this year’s air show presented more than a dozen MALE drones at various stages of development.

“These initiatives are part of an effort to adapt military capabilities to meet evolving threats,” DGA said in a statement, saying the drones “play an essential role in modern conflict zones.”

The agency said recent high-intensity conflicts had highlighted the need for drones with long endurance at medium altitude, but also low cost, capable of performing multiple missions, resistant to jamming and which can be deployed rapidly. MALE drones are typically used for reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence, and light attack roles.

The agreements mark “a decisive step in accelerating the MALE drone strategy of the Armed Forces Ministry,” the DGA statement reads. “They will make it possible to create the best operational solution while respecting time and cost constraints.”

Delays with the Eurodrone MALE drone being developed by Airbus, Dassault Aviation and Leonardo have forced countries including France and Germany to rely on foreign alternatives such as the MQ-9 Reaper by General Atomics and the IAI Heron from Israel Aerospace Industries, while also causing ballooning costs and a risk of technical obsolescence for the program.

The Bayraktar Akinci drone is on display at the Leonardo stand at the Paris Air Show on June 19, 2025. (Rudy Ruitenberg/staff)

The DGA said the signed demonstrator contracts will add options and create export opportunities and signal its commitment to creating a competitive MALE drone industry that will benefit the French armed forces. The initial budget is modest, with the DGA providing around €10 million ($12 million) in total for the five projects, company representatives told Defense News.

The five companies are offering rather different drones under the MALE label, in terms of size, payload, cost as well as endurance.

Turgis Gaillard presented its Aarok drone at the Paris Air Show, with a wingspan of 22 meters, endurance of more than 20 hours, a weapons payload of 1 metric ton, and a price tag the company told Defense News will be somewhere between €10 million and €30 million. The company has completed high-speed roll tests and plans the first flight of the drone by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, SE Aviation showcased its Driade drone, derived from its MCR 4S kit aircraft, which has a wingspan of around 8.7 meters. The drone will have a payload of 470 kilograms as well as 36 hours of endurance in a reconnaissance configuration, according to the company.

With Driade based on an existing certified aircraft, SE Aviation will be able to test autonomous flight this year, and the drone will have a price tag of less than €5 million, company CEO and co-founder Eric Fumey told Defense News.

Fumey said it’s unclear for now how many drone projects the DGA plans to retain for a second phase, saying that will depend on whether the directorate aims for different drones for different missions, “or one drone that does it all.”

French aircraft maker Aura Aero will develop its MALE drone Enbata under the DGA contract, while Fly-R signed with the DGA for its R2-600 MALE drone, notable for its rhomboidal wing, a joined wing configuration in a hollow diamond shape, and a maximum payload of 600 kilometers and endurance of 25 hours.

For aircraft maker Daher, the drone project is part of a wider push to expand its defense business, company executives said at a press briefing here on Wednesday.

It’s up to the company to show its aircraft can be “dronized,” and Draher may have an advantage to get its drone flying because the model will be based on an existing, certified plane which the company knows how to build, CEO Didier Kayat said.

The priority of the DGA is cost, followed by time to delivery, and Daher plans to test an unmanned aircraft by the end of 2025, according to Pascal Laguerre, the firm’s head of new technologies. The DGA contract will cover about 25% of the costs to prepare the demonstrator, with Daher financing the remainder in order “to play in this arena,” Laguerre said.

For Daher to double defense sales to €600 million euros over the next three to five years should be relatively easy, Kayat said. The company’s defense business includes more than €100 million in revenue as a supplier to Boeing’s KC-46 Pegasus tanker program, according to the CEO.

Other MALE drones on show in Paris include the Bayraktar Akinci at the Leonardo stand, a mock up of the Aksungur drone by Turkish Aerospace Industries, as well as the long-serving MQ-9 Reaper produced by General Atomics, an evolution from the granddaddy of MALE drones, the MQ-1 Predator. Aviation Industry Corp. of China displayed models of several MALE drones in its Wing Loong range.

Safran presented its Patroller MALE drone used by the French Army, with a wingspan of 18 meters and a flight time of 14 hours.

Airbus showed a mock-up of the Eurodrone, a bigger aircraft than most of the competition with a wingspan of 30 meters and a 13-ton maximum takeoff weight, a 2.3-ton payload and an autonomy of 40 hours.

The Airbus Sirtap drone developed for the Spanish armed forces is displayed next to a German A400M transport aircraft at the Paris Air Show on June 19, 2025. (Rudy Ruitenberg/staff)

The aircraft is further away from fielding than some of the MALE drones on display at the Paris Air Show, as an infamous example of large-scale, multinational European defense cooperation running into complications and delays. The first prototype flight is now slated for mid-2027, from an original plan for entry into service by 2025.

Airbus at this time continues to target entry into service by the end of the decade, Jean-Brice Dumont, the company’s head of air power, said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Airbus also presented a mock-up of its Sirtap drone developed for the Spanish armed forces, an unmanned aerial vehicle with a 12-meter wingspan and endurance of more than 20 hours that bridges the gap between light UAVs and heavier MALE systems. The drone is expected to fly this year, with delivery to the Spanish forces by the end of 2026 and certification the following year.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——法国本周在巴黎航展上与五家当地公司签署合同，委托其开发中空长航时无人机的演示样机。法国正在寻求一种低成本的解决方案，以填补无人机空中监视和轻型攻击方面的能力缺口。

法国军备总局于 6 月 18 日表示，将资助飞机制造商 Aura Aero、Daher 和 SE Aviation、无人机制造商 Fly-R 以及航空航天公司 Turgis Gaillard 的工作，以便最早在 2026 年生产出相互竞争的中空长航时无人机演示样机。

随着乌克兰战争凸显中空长航时无人机（MALE无人机）的效能及其局限性，该无人机市场正迅速发展。与此同时，价格适中的无人机平台产品日益增多，法国和土耳其等国正致力于发展本国在该领域的研发能力。在今年的航展上，各公司展示了十几款处于不同研发阶段的中空长航时无人机。

美国国防装备总局（DGA）在一份声明中表示：“这些举措是调整军事能力以应对不断变化的威胁的努力的一部分”，并称无人机“在现代冲突地区发挥着至关重要的作用”。

该机构表示，近期高强度冲突凸显了对中空长航时无人机的需求，这些无人机不仅成本低廉，还能执行多种任务，抗干扰能力强，并能快速部署。中空长航时无人机通常用于侦察、监视和情报收集以及轻型攻击任务。

国防安全局（DGA）的声明称，这些协议标志着“在加速推进武装部队中空长航时无人机战略方面迈出了决定性的一步”。声明还表示，“这些协议将有助于在遵守时间和成本限制的前提下，打造最佳作战方案。”

由空客、达索航空和莱昂纳多公司联合开发的 Eurodrone MALE 无人机的延误，迫使包括法国和德国在内的国家依赖外国替代方案，例如通用原子公司的 MQ-9 Reaper 和以色列航空航天工业公司的 IAI Heron，同时也导致该项目成本飙升和技术过时的风险。

2025年6月19日，Bayraktar Akinci无人机在巴黎航展莱昂纳多展台展出。（Rudy Ruitenberg/工作人员摄）

法国国防装备总局（DGA）表示，签署的演示验证合同将增加选择权，创造出口机会，并表明其致力于打造具有竞争力的中空长航时无人机产业，这将惠及法国武装部队。据《防务新闻》报道，公司代表透露，初始预算并不高，DGA为这五个项目总共提供了约1000万欧元（1200万美元）的资金。

这五家公司提供的 MALE 无人机在尺寸、有效载荷、成本和续航能力方面都存在很大差异。

图尔吉斯·盖拉尔公司在巴黎航展上展示了其Aarok无人机。该无人机翼展22米，续航时间超过20小时，武器载荷达1吨。据该公司向《防务新闻》透露，其售价将在1000万至3000万欧元之间。该公司已完成高速翻滚测试，并计划在年底前进行首飞。

与此同时，SE Aviation展示了其Driade无人机，该无人机基于其MCR 4S套件飞机打造，翼展约为8.7米。据该公司称，该无人机有效载荷为470公斤，在侦察配置下续航时间为36小时。

SE Aviation 的首席执行官兼联合创始人 Eric Fumey 告诉《防务新闻》，Driade 基于现有的认证飞机，该公司今年将能够测试自主飞行，而且该无人机的价格将低于 500 万欧元。

富梅表示，目前还不清楚美国国防采购局计划在第二阶段保留多少无人机项目，他说，这将取决于该局的目标是为不同的任务配备不同的无人机，“还是使用一架无人机来完成所有任务”。

法国飞机制造商 Aura Aero 将根据 DGA 的合同开发其 MALE 无人机 Enbata，而 Fly-R 则与 DGA 签署了其 R2-600 MALE 无人机的合同，该无人机以其菱形机翼（一种空心菱形的机翼组合结构）以及 600 公里的最大有效载荷和 25 小时的续航时间而著称。

飞机制造商达赫尔公司的高管周三在新闻发布会上表示，无人机项目是该公司扩大国防业务的更广泛举措的一部分。

该公司需要证明其飞机可以“无人机化”，而德雷尔公司首席执行官迪迪埃·卡亚特表示，德雷尔公司可能在使其无人机飞行方面具有优势，因为该型号将基于该公司知道如何制造的现有认证飞机。

据达赫公司新技术负责人帕斯卡尔·拉格尔透露，DGA的首要考虑因素是成本，其次是交付时间。达赫计划在2025年底前测试一架无人机。拉格尔表示，DGA的合同将涵盖演示机准备成本的约25%，其余部分由达赫自行承担，以便“在这个领域有所作为”。

卡亚特表示，达赫尔公司未来三到五年内将国防销售额翻一番，达到6亿欧元应该相对容易。据这位首席执行官透露，该公司国防业务的收入超过1亿欧元，其中大部分来自为波音公司KC-46“飞马”加油机项目提供零部件。

在巴黎航展上展出的其他中空长航时无人机包括莱昂纳多展台上的Bayraktar Akinci无人机、土耳其航空航天工业公司（TAI）的Aksungur无人机模型，以及通用原子公司生产的服役多年的MQ-9“死神”无人机——它是中空长航时无人机鼻祖MQ-1“捕食者”的升级版。中国航空工业集团公司（AIC）则展示了其翼龙系列的多款中空长航时无人机模型。

赛峰集团展示了其法国陆军使用的 Patroller MALE 无人机，翼展 18 米，飞行时间 14 小时。

空客公司展示了 Eurodrone 的模型，这是一款比大多数竞争对手更大的飞机，翼展 30 米，最大起飞重量 13 吨，有效载荷 2.3 吨，续航时间 40 小时。

2025年6月19日，在巴黎航展上，为西班牙武装部队研制的空客Sirtap无人机与一架德国A400M运输机并排展出。（Rudy Ruitenberg/工作人员摄）

这款飞机的部署进度比巴黎航展上展出的一些中空长航时无人机还要慢，这再次印证了大规模多国欧洲防务合作项目遭遇种种困难和延误的惨痛教训。首架原型机的试飞时间现已推迟至2027年中期，而最初计划是在2025年投入使用。

空客公司航空力量负责人让-布里斯·杜蒙周二在此举行的新闻发布会上表示，空客目前仍以在本十年末投入使用为目标。

空客公司还展示了其为西班牙武装部队开发的Sirtap无人机的模型。这款无人机翼展12米，续航时间超过20小时，填补了轻型无人机和重型中空长航时（MALE）系统之间的空白。该无人机预计将于今年进行试飞，并于2026年底交付西班牙军队，次年获得认证。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。