PARIS — Airbus and Diehl Defence provided a glimpse at the long run of air combat, presenting concepts for stealthy drone systems that can find a way to team up with manned aircraft reminiscent of Eurofighter or Rafale years before a future European sixth-generation fighter becomes reality.
Airbus showed off its Wingman concept, a big fighter-type stealth drone to fly alongside piloted jets reminiscent of the Eurofighter, on the Berlin Air Show near the German capital on Wednesday. The corporate also signed an agreement with German defense-software startup Helsing to develop artificial-intelligence technology for a future Wingman system.
Diehl presented a model of a brand new light distant carrier called Feanix, a drone that might be air launched with payloads including sensors or lethal and non-lethal effectors, and stealth points that make it hard to detect by enemy air defenses. The corporate said it’s been self-financing research into light distant carriers, which it dubbed the missiles of the long run.
Germany has called for faster fielding of military drones than the timeline envisaged for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) being developed with France and Spain. The French senate has said the sixth-generation fighter on the core of FCAS won’t be available before 2045 or 2050, and has called for a wingman drone for the Rafale fighter.
“The present conflicts on Europe’s borders show how essential air superiority is,” Airbus Defence and Space CEO Mike Schoellhorn said in an announcement on Wednesday. “Manned-unmanned teaming will play a central role in achieving air superiority: with an unmanned Wingman at their side, fighter pilots can operate outside the danger zone.”
A lot of the world’s military powers are developing future air-combat systems combining a sixth-generation fighter with unmanned systems. Within the U.S., the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie drone in 2021 successfully launched a smaller unmanned aircraft from its internal weapons bay, while the U.K. is developing distant carriers as a part of the Tempest project.
Most of the developments in unmanned vehicles are in response to a critical have to compensate for a shortfall within the variety of conventional combat aircraft, French think-tank Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique said in an April report.
Airbus is the prime contractor for the distant carriers that shall be a part of FCAS, with missile maker MBDA and Spain’s Satnus because the predominant partners. German air force chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said in November that distant carriers resulting from this system were needed “much, much earlier” than the 2040s.
The Wingman concept drone is Airbus’s answer to the German Air Force’s “clear need” for an unmanned companion aircraft before FCAS shall be operational, and may end up in an “inexpensive solution” for Germany for the 2030s, in line with Schoellhorn. The drone can take over dangerous tasks reminiscent of goal reconnaissance and destroying or jamming of enemy air defenses.
Artificial intelligence shall be a critical component of the system for the German Air Force, Helsing co-CEO Gundbert Scherf said in an announcement. “Whilst we are going to at all times have a human within the loop, we must realize that probably the most dangerous parts of an unmanned mission will see a high degree of autonomy and thus require AI,” he said.
Airbus is self-funding the Wingman effort to develop the technologies for entry into service within the early 2030s, as a way to operate alongside current-generation aircraft reminiscent of the Eurofighter, an Airbus spokesman said in an emailed response to questions. The corporate is in talks with Germany and Spain concerning the concept, but no program has been began.
While probably the most obvious use case is the Eurofighter, the Airbus drone could work with other fighters reminiscent of Rafale, Gripen or the F-35, and even larger aircraft reminiscent of the A400M transporter or A330 MRTT tanker, the corporate said.
Dassault Aviation has been working on its nEUROn drone, which the French senate has said might be the premise for an unmanned wingman for the Rafale. This system’s technological demonstrator accomplished its first flight in December 2012, and first released a weapon from the interior bay in September 2015.
The Airbus Wingman drone on display in Berlin has a wingspan of 12 meters and an overall length of 15.5 meters, and the corporate expects the aircraft would operate at high transonic speed, so across the speed of sound.
The Diehl drone is significantly smaller, and a length of lower than 4 meters and weight of lower than 300 kilograms means the unmanned aircraft might be air launched. Pan-European missile maker MBDA has been working on similar distant carriers.
“Distant carriers are a core element of the international FCAS program, but are also used beyond the FCAS role, which is why Diehl Defence goals for an operational availability well before the FCAS realization period of 2040 plus,” the corporate said in an announcement on Wednesday.
The teaming and swarming capability of the system shall be a game changer in future scenarios, the corporate said. Light distant carriers operation shall be highly automated and independent from the carrier system, with high numbers providing combat mass, Diehl said.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He began his profession at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.