nEUROn: The combat drone from Dassault Aviation
The nEUROn is an experimental unmanned combat drone, developed by Dassault Aviation. This project is a collaboration between France, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Spain and Greece. With a length of 10 meters, a wingspan of 12.5 meters and a weight of 5 tonnes, the drone is powered by a Rolls-Royce engine. Its first flight took place on 1st December 2012. It will continue its testing phase until 2014.
According to Dassault Aviation the first flight went exactly as planned. During 25 minutes, the flight allowed to validate the main flight parameters of the drone. It took-off fully automatically, reached an altitude of about 2,000 meters, then turned around, made its approach and landed.nEUROn incorporates the ultimate in stealth technology. Detecting itby conventional radar is made very difficult due to its shape, the materials that make up its structure and the outer coatings used.A large part of these flights (about 80 out of the 100 programmed) take place as the french Istres-Le Tubé airbase, as was also the case of this first flight.
Dassault Aviation is also the manufacturer of jet aircraft for the general aviation industry. Thanks to is expertise in military aviation, Dassault produces a range of private aircraft, named Falcon. It includes six models ranging from a 6-seats Light Jet, to the new Falcon 7X, a beautiful 12-seater transcontinental jet. View all recent Falcon jets on our Dassault website page.