France kicks off development of wingman drone for Rafale fighter jet

PARIS — France kicked off the development of an air-combat drone that will serve as an unmanned wingman for the country’s Rafale fighter, part of a contract with Dassault Aviation to start work on an upgrade package for the aircraft.

The stealthy wingman drone will be operated directly from the Rafale cockpit, the Armed Forces Ministry said in a post on X , formerly Twitter. The unmanned combat aerial vehicle will build on Dassault Aviation’s work on its unmanned nEUROn demonstrator, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This stealth combat drone will contribute to the technological and operational superiority of the French Air Force by 2033,” Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier said in the statement.

The French plan to give Rafale pilots a drone buddy come as the timetable for the jet’s successor remains unclear. France’s senate in November had called on Dassault Aviation to start work on the Rafale upgrade, including a so-called loyal wingman, as soon as 2024 because of the lack of visibility on the Future Combat Air System being developed with Germany and Spain.

The wingman drone will incorporate stealth technologies, autonomous control with man-in-the-loop functionality and internal payload capacity, and designed to evolve with future threats, according to Dassault Aviation.

The French aircraft builder started the nEUROn program in 2003, and the drone had its maiden flight in December 2012 and first released a weapon from its internal bay in September 2015. Partners in the program include Leonardo for the internal weapons bay, Saab for the design of the main fuselage, avionics and fuel system, as well as Airbus for expertise on the wings.

Airbus showed off its self-funded Wingman concept, a large fighter-type stealth drone to team up with piloted jets such the Eurofighter, at the Berlin Air Show in June. The company described the drone as an answer to the “clear need” of the German Air Force for an unmanned buddy aircraft before FCAS will be operational.

German air force chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said in November that remote carriers resulting from the FCAS program were needed “ much, much earlier ” than the 2040s.

Dassault Aviation is the main contractor for the work on the fighter jet at the heart of the FCAS program, with Airbus as the principal partner. Development of the remote carriers is led by Airbus, with MBDA as the principal partner.

The governments involved aren’t waiting for FCAS though, with Germany agreeing in 2022 to buy the F-35 jet from the United States. France as recently as January announced an order for an additional 42 Rafale jets , lifting the total number of aircraft ordered to 234, including a special order for 12 fighters in 2021 to replace aircraft transferred to Greece.

The future F5 standard Rafale carrying the future ASN4G nuclear missile will be a “major evolution” for France’s airborne nuclear deterrent, the Armed Forces Ministry said on Tuesday. Manufacturers received the first orders for the upgrade program several weeks ago, according to Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

The modernized Rafale “will be ready to face the threats of the 2030s and 2040s, Lecornu said . “For strategic air forces and conventional aviation alike, this is a revolution as significant as the transition from the Mirage 2000 to the Rafale.”

The French Air and Space Force received the first Rafale fighters upgraded to the F4 standard in March last year. The standard is focused on connectivity and includes the Mica medium-range air-to-air missile supplied by pan-European missile maker MBDA as well as an upgrade of the Spectra self-defense system developed by Thales.

MBDA is working on the ASN4G nuclear missile to replace the supersonic ASMP air-launched missile now carried by the Rafale, with the new missile scheduled to be operational around 2035, MBDA board adviser Adm. Hervé de Bonnaventure said in a parliamentary hearing last year. The new missile will have multiple warheads and performance “in the realm of the hypersonic,” according to the admiral.

French aerospace research lab Onera, with MBDA as co-contractor, received an order from France’s Directorate General for Armament to pursue work on the supersonic and hypersonic propulsion that will power the future nuclear missile, the researcher said Sept. 30 .

The lab will focus in particular on the combustion chamber for air breathing propulsion within the Myhysis program. The program will also develop quantum computing capabilities with the potential to create a breakthrough in fluid and energy mechanics, an area of challenges for hypersonic missiles due to the speed at which they travel through the atmosphere.

MBDA and Onera have been studying hypersonics since the 2000-2010 period, de Bonnaventure said in last year’s parliamentary hearing.

France on Tuesday also announced the first qualification firing of the next-generation Aster 30 B1 surface-to-air missile, the upgraded interceptor that will arm the SAMP/T NG air-defense system ordered by France and Italy, as well as both countries’ air-defense frigates.

SAMP/T NG can intercept hypersonic missiles and deal with threats in a 360 degree radius, Lecornu said in a post on X. The system, developed by the Eurosam joint venture between MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales, is scheduled to enter service in the French forces by 2026.

“From Ukraine to the Middle East, the current conflicts illustrate to what extent ground-air defense is key,” Lecornu said.

France still expects to deliver Mirage 2000 jets to Ukraine in the first quarter of 2025, with the jets currently being fitted with new air-to-ground capabilities and electronic-warfare countermeasures, Lecornu said Tuesday , adding that training of Ukrainian pilots and mechanics continues. France has been gradually replacing its fleet of Mirage 2000s with the Rafale, which first flew in 1986.

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——法国启动了一款空中作战无人机的研发工作，该无人机将作为法国“阵风”战斗机的无人僚机。这是法国与达索航空公司签订的合同的一部分，旨在为该型飞机开发升级方案。

土耳其武装部队部在其社交媒体平台X（原推特）上发布消息称，这款隐形僚机无人机将由“阵风”战斗机的座舱直接操控。达索航空公司周二在一份声明中表示，这款无人作战飞行器将基于该公司此前研发的nEUROn无人验证机。

达索航空首席执行官埃里克·特拉皮耶在声明中表示：“这款隐形作战无人机将有助于法国空军在2033年之前取得技术和作战优势。”

法国计划为“阵风”战斗机飞行员配备无人机伙伴，而此时该型战机的继任者时间表仍不明朗。去年11月，法国参议院曾呼吁达索航空公司尽快启动“阵风”战斗机的升级工作，包括研发所谓的“忠诚僚机”，目标是在2024年之前完成，因为法国与德国和西班牙联合研发的未来作战空中系统（FCA）的进展尚不明朗。

据达索航空称，这款僚机无人机将融合隐形技术、具有人机回路功能的自主控制以及内部有效载荷能力，并设计成能够随着未来威胁而发展。

法国飞机制造商于 2003 年启动了 nEUROn 项目，该无人机于 2012 年 12 月首飞，并于 2015 年 9 月首次从其内部弹舱投放武器。该项目的合作伙伴包括负责内部武器舱的莱昂纳多公司、负责主机身、航空电子设备和燃油系统设计的萨博公司，以及负责机翼技术的空客公司。

空客公司在6月份的柏林航展上展示了其自主研发的“僚机”（Wingman）概念无人机，这是一款大型战斗机型隐形无人机，旨在与欧洲战斗机等有人驾驶喷气式飞机协同作战。该公司称，这款无人机是为了满足德国空军在FCAS（未来空中作战系统）投入使用前对无人伙伴飞机的“明确需求”而开发的。

德国空军司令英戈·格哈茨中将11月表示，FCAS计划产生的远程航母需要比2040年代“早得多”才能投入使用。

达索航空是未来空中作战系统（FCAS）项目核心战斗机的主要承包商，空客是其主要合作伙伴。远程载具的研发由空客牵头，MBDA是其主要合作伙伴。

相关各国政府并未坐等未来空中作战系统（FCAS）的交付。德国已于2022年同意从美国购买F-35战斗机。法国就在今年1月宣布追加订购42架“阵风”战斗机，使其订购总数达到234架，其中包括2021年为替换移交给希腊的飞机而特别订购的12架战斗机。

法国国防部周二表示，未来搭载ASN4G核导弹的F5标准型“阵风”战斗机将是法国空中核威慑力量的“重大升级”。据国防部长塞巴斯蒂安·勒科尔努透露，制造商几周前已收到升级项目的首批订单。

莱科尔努表示，现代化后的“阵风”战斗机“将能够应对2030年代和2040年代的威胁”。“对于战略空军和常规航空兵而言，这都是一次意义重大的革命，其意义堪比从幻影2000过渡到阵风战斗机。”

法国空军和航天部队于去年3月接收了首批升级至F4标准的“阵风”战斗机。该标准侧重于提升互联互通能力，包括由泛欧导弹制造商MBDA提供的“米卡”中程空空导弹，以及由泰雷兹公司开发的“光谱”自卫系统的升级版。

MBDA公司正在研发ASN4G核导弹，以取代目前阵风战斗机搭载的超音速ASMP空射导弹。MBDA董事会顾问埃尔韦·德·博纳旺蒂尔海军上将在去年的一次议会听证会上表示，新型导弹预计将于2035年左右投入使用。据这位海军上将称，新型导弹将配备多个弹头，性能“达到高超音速水平”。

9月30日，研究人员表示，法国航空航天研究实验室Onera与MBDA合作，从法国军备总局获得订单，开展超音速和高超音速推进系统的研究工作，该系统将为未来的核导弹提供动力。

该实验室将重点研究Myhysis计划中用于吸气式推进的燃烧室。该计划还将开发量子计算能力，有望在流体和能量力学领域取得突破，而流体和能量力学正是高超音速导弹面临的一大挑战，因为它们在大气层中飞行速度极快。

德·博纳文图尔在去年的议会听证会上表示，MBDA 和 Onera 自 2000 年至 2010 年期间一直在研究高超音速技术。

法国周二还宣布了下一代 Aster 30 B1 地对空导弹的首次资格试射，这种升级后的拦截导弹将装备法国和意大利订购的 SAMP/T NG 防空系统以及两国的防空护卫舰。

Lecornu在X网站上发帖称，SAMP/T NG能够拦截高超音速导弹，并应对360度范围内的威胁。该系统由MBDA法国公司、MBDA意大利公司和泰雷兹公司组成的Eurosam合资企业开发，计划于2026年在法国军队服役。

“从乌克兰到中东，当前的冲突表明了地面防空的重要性，”莱科尔努说。

法国仍计划于2025年第一季度向乌克兰交付幻影2000战斗机。法国国防部长勒科尔努周二表示，这些战机目前正在加装新的对地攻击能力和电子战对抗系统，并对乌克兰飞行员和机械师进行培训。法国一直在逐步用阵风战斗机替换其幻影2000机队，阵风战斗机于1986年首飞。

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。