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Ten years of nEUROn flights

At sunrise, on Saturday, December 1, 2012, the nEUROn took off for the very first time from the Istres airbase. The ensuing 10 years have brought a string of achievements.

At sunrise, on Saturday, December 1, 2012, the nEUROn took off for the very first time from the Istres airbase. The ensuing 10 years have brought a string of achievements.

Developed as part of a European program involving Sweden, Italy, Spain, Greece and Switzerland, under the leadership of Dassault Aviation, this stealth UCAV demonstrator was initially intended to remain in service for only a few years. Ten years later, the nEUROn is still in use — it has faced many operational tests and it has met and exceeded all expectations. nEUROn test campaigns have enabled France and its partner nations to achieve a level of expertise unmatched in Europe.

The nEUROn is the first UCAV to have been deployed at European airbases with intense air-traffic. The nEUROn has successfully delivered weapons from its internal bay.


It was the first UCAV to fly in patrol formation with a fighter jet and a civilian aircraft.

The nEUROn has achieved a level of stealth that is unrivalled within the European combat aircraft community.
The operational evaluation of this stealth capability has provided the first building-blocks for the creation of a combat sphere, with the involvement of various actors from the French armed forces and the DGA Defense procurement agency.

The success of the nEUROn demonstrates Dassault Aviation’s proficiency as a prime contractor and an architect-integrator for complex systems at the head of an international cooperation program.