Indian Defence Review

The aim of the nEUROn programme is to demonstrate the maturity and the effectiveness of technical solutions, but not to perform military missions. The main technological challenges addressed during the design phase of the nEUROn are: -- the shapes of the air vehicle (aerodynamic, innovative composite structure, and internal weapon bay), -- the technologies related to low observability issues, -- the insertion of this type of aircraft within the test area, -- the high-level algorithms necessary to the development of the automated processes, -- as well as the place of the human factor within the mission loop. The last, but certainly not the least, important technology to be demonstrated is the capability to carry and deliver weapons from an internal bay. Today, European aircraft are designed with external loading capabilities for bombs and missiles. The demonstration goals are the followings: -- the performance of an air-to-ground mission based on the detection, localization, and reconnaissance of ground targets in autonomous modes, -- the evaluation of the detection results of a stealth platform facing ground or aerial threats, in terms of radar cross section and infrared signature, -- the weapon release from an internal bay, with the very stringent tempo constraints of a fast decision loop. It is clear that through these demonstration missions, the goals are to validate technologies around command and control of an unmanned air vehicle of a size similar to a combat aircraft, with all back-up modes insuring necessary safety and security. The nEUROn system will be network-centric capable.