Aim of the programme

The nEUROn program has gone far beyond the theoretical studies carried out to date, leading to the construction and flight testing of an unmanned aircraft demonstrator, demonstrating the maturity and effectiveness of the technical solutions adopted.

While all European aircraft today rely on external carrying capabilities for bombs, missiles, laser illumination and optical reconnaissance, this program has validated the ability to carry and fire weapons from an internal payload bay, another major technology for stealth control.

The technologies implemented for the command and control of an unmanned vehicle, equivalent in size to a fighter aircraft, with all the backup modes needed to guarantee the required level of safety, have given full satisfaction, and all the program’s technical objectives have been achieved.

Main technological challenges addressed during the design phase of the nEUROn

  • The shapes of the air vehicle (aerodynamic, innovative composite structure, and internal weapon bay),
  • The technologies related to low observability issues,
  • The insertion of this type of aircraft within the test area,
  • The high-level algorithms necessary to the development of the automated processes,
  • As well as the place of the human factor within the mission loop.
nEUROn in flight

Goals achieved during in-flight trials

  • the performance of an air-to-ground mission based on the detection, localization, and reconnaissance of ground targets in autonomous modes,
  • the evaluation of the detection results of a stealth aircraft facing ground or aerial threats, in terms of radar cross section and infrared signature,
  • the weapon release from an internal bay, with the very stringent tempo constraints of a fast decision loop.
  • Insertion into the test range airspace,
  • Subsonic air-to-ground mission,
  • Penetration mission with discrete trajectory

To Discover

Organization Program

Innovative industrial solutions

Programme Milestones

Introduction