The program is lead by the French Dassault Aviation corporation in collaboration with Sweden (Saab), Greece (HAI), Switzerland (RUAG), Spain (EADS-CASA and Italy (Alenia). The French government will provide half of the program’s 400 million euro (US$480 million) budget while the remaining funds will be supplied by the other participating member nations.
nEUROn, as a technology demonstrator, is designed to be a platform for evaluation of future cutting-edge technology.
"There is no operational need for Neuron. It’s just a technology demonstrator. It's never going to be operational; it's never going to be produced in series. There will be just one demonstrator," according to Yves Robins, vice president for international relations at Dassault Aviation
The program has three goals:
- Maintain and develop the skills of the participating European aerospace companies' design offices.
Robins explains that the new generation of aircraft coming into service, such as Rafale, Eurofighter and the Joint Strike Fighter, will be active for at least 30 years before they are replaced. Because of this longevity, there will be no opportunity for European industry to start a new program before 2030. “You need to maintain the know-how and the skill of your design offices by giving them a program on which they can develop what they already have,” Robins says. - Investigate and validate the technologies that will be needed by 2015 to design next-generation combat aircraft.
Robins notes that it does not matter if it is a manned or unmanned platform because many of the technologies apply to both types of aircraft.
- Validate an innovative cooperation process by establishing a European industry team responsible for developing next-generation combat aircraft.
The work will include designing more efficient ways to cooperate, methods to operate within budgetary constraints and processes that respect individual nations’ planning and agenda issues. “What we wanted when we selected our partners was not to develop a capability that did not exist, but to build on existing capabilities and further enhance them in a cost-efficient way. It’s rather easy to build a stealth platform. But is it easy to build an affordable one?” he offers.
The nEUROn UCAV demonstrator is expected to perform its maiden flight by 2011.
Recent developments:
Jun. 19th, 2007 | European MALE agreementAlenia Aeronautica, Dassault Aviation and Saab join forces for the next generation European MALE UAV Surveillance System
Today at Le Bourget Air Show in Paris, Alenia Aeronautica, Dassault Aviation and Saab AB have signed a Letter Of Intent to expand and intensify their cooperation to the MALE UAV System (Medium Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicle).
This strategic cooperation addresses the trend of increased UAV use in defence, civil and commercial applications, and especially...
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Jun. 13th, 2007 | Neuron Technology Demonstrator Enters Definition Phase
Acting in its capacity as the program’s executive agency, France’s defense procurement agency, Delegation Generale pour l’Armement (DGA) officially notified the Neuron Strategic Board, consisting of representatives from armament procurement services of Italy (Segredifesa), Sweden (FMV), Spain (DGAM), Greece (GDDAI), Switzerland (Armasuisse) and France (DGA), that it had awarded a EUR 130 million contract for the project definition phase of the <a href="/page...
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Jan. 9th, 2007 | Neuron UCAV Approaches Design Phase
A French-led effort to develop a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle is set to move into high gear as engineers begin to prepare detailed definition of the Neuron demonstrator.
For the six partner nations, Neuron is a major attempt to explore what uses a UCAV capability might serve. For industry, it's seen as a vital effort to keep pace with the nearest competitors.
Program planners acknowledge that similar U.S. and British undertakings might be further advanced (AW&ST Dec. 11, 2006, p. 35...
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Dec. 1st, 2006 | Neuron UCAV to have twin internal weapons bays
Dassault Aviation has revealed that the consortium developing the Neuron unmanned combat air vehicle demonstrator now plans to fit the aircraft with twin internal weapons bays under newly released revised configuration details, designated design "781-20".
The consortium also plans to use Mk82 and GBU 12 bombs to carry out proposed ground strike testing of the aircraft once its basic flight characteristics have been proven.
The 781-20 configuration is near final, says Dassault vice-president ...
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Oct. 16th, 2006 | Adour engines for nEUROn UCAV demonstrator program
Dassault Aviation, main contractor of the nEUROn European UCAV demonstrator program, has ordered two Adour Mk 951, and associate support, from Rolls Royce and Turbomeca (SAFRAN Group), through their joint venture RRTM. The choice of this engine has been made in accordance with the stated principle of using proven off-the-shelf equipment whenever possible in the nEUROn.
The first Adour Mk 951 will be delivered mid 2008 for the ground testing. The second engine (spare engine) is scheduled to be...
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- Germany, Italy and Sweden hold advanced UAV project talks
- Dassault Details nEUROn; Europe's UCAV Demonstrator
- Dassault Advances Neuron UCAV Project
- Europe Develops Robotic Warplanes
- France advises bringing UAVs into mainstream defence budgets
- nEUROn UCAV Project Rolling Down the Runway
- France signs delayed deal for Neuron UCAV demonstrator
Specifications
| Version | nEUROn |
| Length | 33ft 10m |
| Height | n/a |
| Wingspan | 40 ft 12m |
View all the specs and compare them with other aircraft!
nEUROn UCAV Videos | 4 Videos Available!
First 5 videos, click to go to the nEUROn UCAV video gallery:
Sources & Recommended Websites:
This page was last updated on: 2006-03-02
