Dassault nEUROn UCAV Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle demonstrator at Paris Air Show 2011

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Paris Air Show le Bourget 2011
International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition
Paris - France
20 - 26 June 2011
 
Dassault nEUROn UCAV at Paris Air Show / Le Bourget 2011
 

Friday, June 24, 2011, 03:40 PM
 
Dassault nEUROn UCAV Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle demonstrator at Paris Air Show 2011.
 
 
At Paris Air Show 2011, Dassault Aviation, presents its new project of UCAV Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle, the nEUROn. The aim of the nEUROn demonstrator is to provide the European design offices with a project allowing them to develop know-how and to maintain their technological capabilities in the coming years.
     

At Paris Air Show 2011, Dassault Aviation, presents its new project of UCAV Unmanned Comabt Air Vehicle, the nEUROn. The aim of the nEUROn demonstrator is to provide the European design offices with a project allowing them to develop know-how and to maintain their technological capabilities in the coming years.
Dassault nEUROn UCAV Unmanned Combat air Vehicle at Paris Air Show 2011
     

This project goes far beyond the theoretical studies that have been conducted until now, as it plans the building and the flight demonstration of an unmanned aircraft.

It is also a way to implement an innovative process in terms of management and organisation of a European cooperative programme.

To be fully effective, a single point of decision, the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA – Délégation Générale pour l’Armement), and a single point of implementation, Dassault Aviation company as prime contractor, were settled to manage the nEUROn programme.

The Italian, Swedish, Spanish, Greek and Swiss governments acting together with their related industrial teams, Alenia, SAAB, EADS-CASA, Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and RUAG, have joined the French initiative.
     
At Paris Air Show 2011, Dassault Aviation, presents its new project of UCAV Unmanned Comabt Air Vehicle, the nEUROn. The aim of the nEUROn demonstrator is to provide the European design offices with a project allowing them to develop know-how and to maintain their technological capabilities in the coming years.
Artistic drawing of nEUROn (European UCAV technology demonstrator)
     
The aim of the nEUROn programme is to demonstrate the maturity and the effectiveness of technical solutions, but not to perform military missions.

The main technological challenges addressed during the design phase of the nEUROn are:
- the shapes of the air vehicle (aerodynamic, innovative composite structure, and internal weapon bay),
- the technologies related to low observability issues,
- the insertion of this type of aircraft within the test area,
- the high-level algorithms necessary to the development of the automated processes,
- as well as the place of the human factor within the mission loop.

The last, but certainly not the least, important technology to be demonstrated is the capability to carry and deliver weapons from an internal bay. Today, European aircraft are designed with external loading capabilities for bombs and missiles.
     
At Paris Air Show 2011, Dassault Aviation, presents its new project of UCAV Unmanned Comabt Air Vehicle, the nEUROn. The aim of the nEUROn demonstrator is to provide the European design offices with a project allowing them to develop know-how and to maintain their technological capabilities in the coming years.
nEUROn final assembly in Istres by Dassault Aviation team. nEUROn is a European UCAV technology demonstrator.
     
The industrial team of the nEUROn programme is composed of:

- Dassault Aviation (France), in addition to being the design authority, takes care of the general design and architecture of the system, the flight control system, the implementation of low observable devices, the final assembly, the systems integration on the “global integration tests rig”, the ground tests, and the flight tests,
- Alenia (Italy) contributes to the project with a new concept of internal weapon bay (“Smart Integrated Weapon Bay” - SIWB), an internal EO/IR sensor, the bay doors and their operating mechanisms, the electrical power and distribution system, and the air data system,
- SAAB (Sweden), is entrusted with the general design of the main fuselage, the landing gear doors, the avionics and the fuel system,
- EADS-CASA (Spain) brings its experience for the wings, the ground station, and the data link integration,
- Hellenic Aerospace Industry - HAI (Greece) is responsible for the rear fuselage, the exhaust pipe, and the supply of racks of the “global integration tests rig”,
- RUAG (Switzerland) is taking care of the low speed wind tunnel tests, and the weapon interfaces between the aircraft and the armaments.