British and French Defence Ministers Phillip Hammond and Jean-Yves Le Drian met in London on Tuesday to discuss progress of the Anglo-French defence treaty signed in 2010. A key element of the treaty was to work jointly on unmanned drones… Read More ›
Telemos (UK-French drone)
Latest news on British drones
Some new information has emerged this week about future British drone programmes as BAE Systems held a media briefing at their Warton site to talk about their unmanned projects (our invitation was presumably lost in the post). According to the report by… Read More ›
UK-France declaration on drones
At the UK-French summit in Paris today, David Cameron and President Sarkozy agree a new Declaration on security and defence. The relevant section on drones (paragraph 16) reads: Unmanned air systems are crucial to success in the battlefield, as the… Read More ›
Anglo-French drone takes another step forward
Summary: Drones are the latest ‘must have’ weapon systems and the big military companies are desperate to be part of what is beginning to be called ‘the drones gold-rush’. While Cameron is keen to emphasize that only a ‘few tens… Read More ›
The French drone 'crisis'
Prime Minister David Cameron will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy today in Paris for bilateral talks. While the agenda will no doubt be dominated by the Euro crisis, they may well have a quick word about drones too. Last November the UK and France signed… Read More ›
BAE salivating at prospect of £2bn drone contract as USAF recruits kids to the drone wars
At a pre-Paris Air Show briefing this week, BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation could hardly contain their excitement at the prospect of being awarded a contract to develop a new armed drone. The companies say they expect a government decision on the… Read More ›
BAE ties up with Dassault not EADS on joint drone
BAE Systems have announced this morning that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with French aircraft manufacturer, Dassault, to work together on a new armed drone. The new drone will be one of the first products of the… Read More ›
UK and France Plan Joint Work on “essential” Drones
UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy jointly signed The Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation yesterday at the 2010 UK-France Summit. The treaty, dubbed by the tabloids as ‘the entente frugale’, contains two paragraphs on drones: Unmanned Air… Read More ›
SDSR, Drones and Autonomy
“There is extra money for unmanned aerial vehicles, and I think that anyone who has been to Afghanistan and seen the incredible work that is being done there knows that is a capability in which we should be investing” David… Read More ›
MoD confirms joint UK/France study into future drone
An MoD spokeswomen has said that the UK and France are half-way through a joint three-month feasibility study into the possibility of jointly producing/purchasing a new drone. The study came to light after the a senior Dassault executive called a press conference to argue… Read More ›