The French General Directorate of Armament (DGA) has announced that the French version of the EUROMALE Unmanned Aerial Systems will be armed with air to ground missiles (AGMs) and guided precision bomb (GBU). Specifically, the European MALE (Medium-Altitude, Long Endurance) drone also known as RPAS MALE, developed by an European consortium led by Airbus Defense and Space including the French Dassault and the Italian Leonardo, will be able to embark and operate the last MBDA AGM, the AKERON LP and precision guided bombs GBU-49 ENHANCED PAVEWAY. L’AKERON LP is the most advanced 5th generation long range multi-role guided missile in development today by MBDA, with high level technologies in term of optronics, warhead, RF data link, guidance and image processing algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence principles and data fusion. It was previously known as MHT and has been chosen to also equip the future French TIGER Mk III helicopters. It will have a multipurpose with selectable mode warhead, a range from 8 km up to 20km, a multimode seeker (SAL/TV/uncooled IR) and a bidirectional RF datalink. In accordance with MBDA, the AKERON LP missiles’ family will be capable of striking from modern battle tanks and state-of-the-art light combat vehicles, to bunkers and dismounted adversaries. It will be able to act in a wide variety of complex environments and weather conditions, which can be urban areas, deserts or mountains, during the day or night. It will also have an enhanced IFF which will allow a easy discrimination of friendly and foe targets in the battlefield, reducing possible blue-on-blue mistakes. The EUROMALE first flight is scheduled for 2025 and the delivery of the first series system, if there may be no setbacks, will be in 2028. The EUROMALE will be powered by two turboprop engines, will have a wingspan of 26 meters, a length of 16 meters and among its characteristics, its 11 tons of maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), a maximum speed of 270 knots and a maximum payload capacity stand out of 2.3 tons. The Eurodrone will be an indispensable capability to facilitate international conflict prevention and crisis management during all phases of operation – especially in the field of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR).

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