Airbus, maker of long-flying Zephyr, launches US drone business

WASHINGTON — The U.S. defense division of European aerospace company Airbus said it launched a new business unit aimed at the surging market for military drones.

Airbus U.S. Space and Defense on Nov. 9 unveiled the creation of its uncrewed aircraft systems office, which will be led by Brian Zarchin, a retired U.S. Army aviator. The new group builds upon Airbus’ previous success with its Zephyr drone, a solar-powered aircraft that stayed aloft for 64 days above 60,000 feet during testing over Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

“With ongoing great power competition, it’s critical that we do our part to help deter threats and, in crisis or conflict, present our adversaries with multiple dilemmas,” Zarchin said in a statement. “Our new business line is laser-focused on helping the DoD solve its toughest UAS challenges, from surface to stratosphere.”

The Department of Defense is increasingly interested in unmanned aerial systems and their battlefield applications, including intelligence gathering, targeting assistance and ordnance delivery .

The department in August rolled out its Replicator initiative, calling for thousands of attritable systems in the field in the next 18 to 24 months to counter perceived Chinese capabilities. Additional details have been scant. U.S. Army leadership has suggested the service could contribute one-way attack drones and ground-based robotics.

“The future battlespace is here, and our team is ensuring the warfighter is equipped with technology that allows them to make informed decisions to counter the threat,” Rob Geckle, chairman and CEO of Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, said in a statement. “And while the Zephyr stratospheric platform is our foundational UAS program, we envision multiple UAS solutions supporting a range of customer missions and operational needs.”

Airbus is the 12th largest defense contractor in the world when ranked by defense-related revenue, according to Defense News’s Top 100 list. The company, which lists its headquarters in the Netherlands and its main office in France, earned a little more than $12 billion in defense-related revenue in 2022.

Colin Demarest was a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covered military networks, cyber and IT. Colin had previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.

华盛顿——欧洲航空航天公司空中客车的美国国防部表示，已成立一个新的业务部门，旨在开拓蓬勃发展的军用无人机市场。

11月9日，空中客车美国航天与防务公司宣布成立无人飞行器系统办公室，该办公室将由退役美国陆军飞行员布莱恩·扎钦领导。新成立的团队建立在空中客车此前凭借“西风”（Zephyr）无人机取得的成功之上。“西风”是一款太阳能动力无人机，在亚利桑那州尤马试验场进行的测试中，曾在6万英尺（约18000米）以上的高空连续飞行64天。

扎尔钦在一份声明中表示：“在大国竞争日益激烈的今天，我们必须尽己所能，帮助遏制威胁，并在危机或冲突中给我们的对手制造多重困境。我们新成立的业务部门将专注于帮助美国国防部解决其在从地表到平流层等各个层面上最棘手的无人机系统挑战。”

美国国防部对无人机系统及其战场应用越来越感兴趣，包括情报收集、目标协助和弹药投放。

美国国防部于8月启动了“复制者”计划，要求在未来18至24个月内部署数千套可消耗型系统，以应对其认为中国具备的作战能力。但该计划的细节信息仍然匮乏。美国陆军领导层曾暗示，陆军可能会提供单向攻击无人机和地面机器人。

“未来战场已然来临，我们的团队正在确保作战人员配备相应的技术，以便他们能够做出明智的决策来应对威胁，”空中客车美国航天与防务公司董事长兼首席执行官罗伯·盖克尔在一份声明中表示。“虽然Zephyr平流层平台是我们的基础无人机系统项目，但我们设想开发多种无人机系统解决方案，以支持客户的各种任务和作战需求。”

根据《防务新闻》发布的全球百强国防承包商榜单，按国防相关收入排名，空客是全球第十二大国防承包商。该公司总部位于荷兰，主要办事处位于法国，2022年国防相关收入略高于120亿美元。

科林·德马雷斯特曾是C4ISRNET的记者，负责报道军事网络、网络安全和信息技术方面的新闻。此前，他曾为南卡罗来纳州的一家日报报道美国能源部及其下属的国家核安全管理局，主要关注冷战后的清理工作和核武器研发。科林还是一位屡获殊荣的摄影师。