ILA 2026: France ‘remains committed' to Eurodrone, Airbus says

A mockup of the Eurodrone on display at the ILA Berlin Airshow 2026. Following recent suggestions that France may exit the programme, Airbus DS has said that the country remains a fully committed partner alongside Germany, Italy, and Spain. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

France remains a full industrial partner and future customer of the Eurodrone medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that it is developing with Germany, Italy and Spain, the lead contractor told Janes and other defence media on 11 June 2026.

Speaking at the ILA Berlin Airshow 2026, the head of Air Power at Airbus Defence and Space (DS), Jean-Brice Dumont, reconfirmed France's commitment to the Eurodrone weeks after French government documents showed a reduced order over the initial timeframe of the project, causing national media to suggest a planned exit.

“France remains committed to the programme – we had four nations at the beginning, and we have four nations now,” Dumont said. “There has been some noise [in the French national media], but it is a bit more complicated than that. If you look at the history of cooperation programmes, it is not uncommon for partners to wait a bit to make up their minds on order timelines.”