EADS Confirms Barracuda UAV Flight Tests in Canada

By: Chris Pocock

August 20, 2009
Aircraft

A second copy of the Barracuda combat UAV demonstrator made four successful flights from Goose Bay, Labrador, according to EADS. The first Barracuda crashed on an early test flight in Spain in 2006.

The demonstrator flew autonomously with monitoring from the ground station for safety purposes only, EADS said. The tests form part of the “Agile UAV in Network Centric Environment (NCE)” study commissioned by the German Defence Ministry.

“Even if [the Barracuda] is not destined for series production, EADS will gather fundamental insights for operationally mature next-generation UAV products–either alone or in cooperation with European partners,” the company noted. Dr.

Stefan Zoller, head of EADS Defence and Security, claimed that the Barracuda is the largest unmanned aerial system yet built in Europe. Zoller previously downplayed the Barracuda/Agile-NCE development, in favor of the EADS Talarion (previously known as the Advanced UAV), a surveillance platform being proposed to France, Germany and Spain.

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