EU-DIGEST

Unmanned nEUROn stealth combat aircraft

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nEUROn Europe's unmanned combat aircraft taking shape

On February 9, 2006, French defense procurement agency DGA, the program executive agency, named Dassault Aviation as prime contractor in charge of developing nEUROn, a European combat aircraft vehicle demonstrator. This signaled the active launch of the project.The AVE-C drone carried out a demonstration flight on June 30, 2008. Since this drone features a general design similar to nEUROn, this test helped confirm the likelihood of the new UCAV performing a successful automatic takeoff and landing right from its first flight.The maiden flight of nEUROn is scheduled for the end of 2011. Test flights will be carried out over a period of about 18 months, in France (Istres), then Sweden and Italy. 85% of the total budget has now been awarded to Industry by DGA, which acts on behalf of the six Partner States (France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Greece and Switzerland).In other words, not only is nEUROn beginning to take shape, but so is a real pan-European military aviation industry.

Labels: Air France, Aircraft Industry, EU, European Military, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland. nEUROn, Unmand Aircraft

European Africa Corps: EU Approves 3,000-Strong Africa Force - by Constant Brand

About half of the EU force will be French. Kouchner said the force has already received pledges of more than 2,500 troops from several EU nations. Poland and Spain pledged troops and planes at the EU talks Monday, while Ireland, Sweden, Poland and Belgium are expected to provide smaller contingents of 80 to 300 troops each, officials said.

Note EU-Digest: "This particular military involvement of the EU in Africa is a far better humanitarian or security initiative than having EU troops in Afghanistan or Iraq."

Labels: Chad, EU, European Military

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Spanish Army’s first three Eurocopter Tigers arrive at their operational base

The Spanish Army’s first three Tiger helicopters have arrived at their final destination, the Coronel Sánchez Bilbao military base in Almagro, where they are to serve the Spanish armed forces. The Spanish Army will have 24 HAD Tigers at its disposal in due course; 18 Tigers are to be delivered in HAD configuration, and the other six – which are in HAP version – are to be retrofitted to HAD. In comparison to the original HAP version, the HAD Tiger features a Spike or Hellfire air-to-ground missile, an uprated engine ensuring an increased useful load, IFF system, electronic warfare system, and enhanced ballistic protection.

Labels: EU, European Military, Spain

Rafs Eurofighter To Fly In For Festival - by Andrew French

The Eurofighter, built to replace the RAF's Tornado F3 interceptor aircraft, is about to enter service across the UK, and could be fully operational in just over a year's time. The arrival of the Euro- fighter at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock on Sunday, July 22, is a coup for the organisers.

Squadron Leader Andy Pawsey, the RAF Event Team's creative director and commentator for the show, said he expected the arrival of the Eurofighter at Blenheim Palace to be "very spectacular and very noisy". He said: "Without a doubt, the Eurofighter is the most formidable aircraft of its kind in the world today and it really does represent the future of the RAF for many years to come.

Labels: EuroFighter, European Military, European technology

Airbus A400M wing box is delivered

Airbus says the first center wing box for the A400M military transport aircraft has been delivered from the Airbus Nantes site in France to Seville in Spain, where it arrived on March 28. Deliveries of major structural sections for the first A400M military transport aircraft to the final assembly line in Seville, Spain, started at the end of 2006.Four center wing box structures are currently in production in the dedicated facility at the Airbus plant in Nantes, France. Firm orders for the A400M now stand at 192 aircraft.

The A400M programme is a direct result of a commonly expressed need by 8 European air forces for a new generation military airlifter. The scope of this initiative to specify and procure an aircraft of a common definition is unique and clearly points to the way forward in the domain of "smart procurement" for the armed forces of allied nations.The European Union (EU) is eagerly working towards establishing its own powerful armed forces, independent of American command structures and the new military transport—Airbus A 400 M—forms the heart of the European weapons programme.

Labels: A400 military transport aircraft, Airbus, EU, European Military