Airbus remains ‘positive' on Eurodrone, despite likely French exit

A full-scale mock-up of the Eurodrone that Germany, France, Italy, and Spain began developing, displayed at ILA 2022. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Airbus is maintaining a positive outlook on the Eurodrone, despite the disclosure that France is likely to exit the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) project it has developed with Germany, Italy, and Spain.

A spokesperson for Eurodrone prime contractor Airbus Defence and Space (DS) told Janes on 14 May 2026 that positive engagement between national and industrial partners continues. “We are engaged in positive conversations with the Eurodrone partner nations for the next stages of the programme,” the spokesperson said, adding, “Those discussions remain confidential”.

An update to France's 2024 - 2030 Military Programming Law (LPM), published by the country's National Assembly on 8 April 2026, said that “the military requirement for theatre MALE capability has been reoriented to seize the opportunity presented by the emergence of a sovereign sector of lower-cost theatre drones, as the European MALE [Eurodrone] is now proving to be less suited for high-intensity warfare.”

A table in the document said that Eurodrone systems intended to complement nine of France's General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9A Reaper UASs, had been subtracted from the original LPM. It showed: minus one Eurodrone system previously intended to be part of the fleet by 2030; and minus six Eurodrone systems previously intended to be part of the fleet by 2035.

Also known as the European MALE Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) and the European MALE (EMALE), the Eurodrone was officially launched in February 2022 by Germany (Airbus DS) as the lead country, along with France (Dassault), Italy (Leonardo), and Spain (Airbus DS). India and Japan are official observers on the programme.