Aircraft
EADS forges ahead on two UAV programs
EADS is moving forward with its Talarion medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV, with an eye to flying it in 2014.

EADS is moving forward with its Talarion medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV, with an eye to flying it in 2014. In the meantime, its Barracuda demonstrator is gearing up for a series of trials to demonstrate the employment of UAVs in a netcentric environment.

The European group’s UAV demonstrator has evolved from two programs: the company’s own Barracuda unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), and the Agile UAV funded by the German government. The first prototype flew on April 2, 2006, but in September of that year it crashed at Murcia-San Javier in Spain due to software problems in the flight control system. A second air vehicle was rolled out at Augsburg, Germany, in May 2008. The fuselage was built in Germany, while the wings were constructed at Getafe in Spain.

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