Europe's two leading military aerospace companies have agreed to collaborate in the design of a medium altitude long endurance unmanned aircraft system to compete for an emerging Anglo-French joint program.
BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation said they had signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate of the design, development, production and support of a MALE vehicle.
The two companies have been working toward a possible tie-up for months and have already completed a joint feasibility study on a MALE vehicle for the British and French Governments.
The MoU comes in the wake of the Anglo-French defense co-operation treaty signed by the two governments in November. A possible joint UAS program was touted then as one of the most likely projects to proceed in the short term.
The UAS could be loosely based on the work already done by BAE in its Mantis demonstrator program, said a BAE spokeswomen.
The Mantis vehicle, part funded by the UK government, tested a number of technologies, including autonomous flight in a limited flying program, which ended last year.
BAE said it had no imminent plans to get Mantis back in the air but was "considering how to get the best value from the work already done going forward."
"The new vehicle won't be Mantis with another name, but we will be looking at the technologies it used," she said.
The two governments are yet to formally launch a competition for joint MALE program, but are expected to do so in the coming months.
EADS with the Talarion system is likely to be among the other contenders for the requirement.
Kevin Taylor, BAE's managing director for military air and information, said in a statement that solution from the two companies will "ensure that the UK and France maintain their status as leading providers of aerospace capability.
BAE and Dassault both lead programs to develop the Taranis and Neuron unmanned combat air vehicles respectively. The BAE spokeswoman said for the moment the MoU was limited to the MALE system "but might lead to other things."
Both companies are seeking to fill the void in military aerospace design and production work beyond the rundown of the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale fighter programs, which currently sustain of thousands of jobs in the UK and France.
In Britain the new UAS would be aimed at a Ministry of Defence program known as Scavenger. The MoD has been looking at future ISTAR requirements ranging from MALE systems up to space-based capabilities for delivery starting around 2015.
General Atomics with new versions of the Reaper, Northrop Grumman with a variant of the Global Hawk and EADS have had discussions with the British over filling aspects of the requirement.
France has a near-term requirement for a MALE machine for Afghanistan but is looking to the deal with Britain to fill a long-term capability need.
BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation said they had signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate of the design, development, production and support of a MALE vehicle.
The two companies have been working toward a possible tie-up for months and have already completed a joint feasibility study on a MALE vehicle for the British and French Governments.
The MoU comes in the wake of the Anglo-French defense co-operation treaty signed by the two governments in November. A possible joint UAS program was touted then as one of the most likely projects to proceed in the short term.
The UAS could be loosely based on the work already done by BAE in its Mantis demonstrator program, said a BAE spokeswomen.
The Mantis vehicle, part funded by the UK government, tested a number of technologies, including autonomous flight in a limited flying program, which ended last year.
BAE said it had no imminent plans to get Mantis back in the air but was "considering how to get the best value from the work already done going forward."
"The new vehicle won't be Mantis with another name, but we will be looking at the technologies it used," she said.
The two governments are yet to formally launch a competition for joint MALE program, but are expected to do so in the coming months.
EADS with the Talarion system is likely to be among the other contenders for the requirement.
Kevin Taylor, BAE's managing director for military air and information, said in a statement that solution from the two companies will "ensure that the UK and France maintain their status as leading providers of aerospace capability.
BAE and Dassault both lead programs to develop the Taranis and Neuron unmanned combat air vehicles respectively. The BAE spokeswoman said for the moment the MoU was limited to the MALE system "but might lead to other things."
Both companies are seeking to fill the void in military aerospace design and production work beyond the rundown of the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale fighter programs, which currently sustain of thousands of jobs in the UK and France.
In Britain the new UAS would be aimed at a Ministry of Defence program known as Scavenger. The MoD has been looking at future ISTAR requirements ranging from MALE systems up to space-based capabilities for delivery starting around 2015.
General Atomics with new versions of the Reaper, Northrop Grumman with a variant of the Global Hawk and EADS have had discussions with the British over filling aspects of the requirement.
France has a near-term requirement for a MALE machine for Afghanistan but is looking to the deal with Britain to fill a long-term capability need.
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