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La France négocie sa sortie du programme Eurodrone avec ses trois partenaires, l’Allemagne, l’Italie et l’Espagne. Ces derniers, qui veulent continuer le projet, ont déjà chiffré le coût de la poursuite sans la France à plus de 700 millions d’euros.

Selon plusieurs sources interrogées par Challenges, la France, qui ne voit plus d’utilité à un engin jugé trop gros et pas adapté aux conflits de haute intensité, est en train de négocier son départ de ce programme avec les trois autres Etats partenaires (Allemagne, Espagne, Italie). Interrogés par Challenges, le cabinet de la ministre des Armées et la DGA se refusent à tout commentaire.

Paris is also mulling the development of a new tank, according to a draft military planning law seen by POLITICO.

France has also apparently killed the Eurodrone, a long-range reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle being developed together with Germany, Italy and Spain, as the draft allocates no money to the much-delayed European program.

Braunschweig – Aerodata AG announces that final assembly of AeroForce® X prototype has been successfully completed. With this development step, the unmanned aircraft system has reached an important milestone and is moving on to the next phase as scheduled. The prototype’s first flight is scheduled to take place in Germany this year.

The MALE-class (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) unmanned aircraft system stands out in particular for its long endurance of up to 40 hours and a payload capacity of up to 1,300 kg.

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The Eurodrone medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) being developed by France, Germany, Italy and Spain may no longer be operationally relevant, Dassault CEO Éric Trappier said on 1 July 2026.

Speaking to the French Senate, Trappier said that, in an age where allied air superiority is not guaranteed, the Eurodrone may find itself “a fairly easy target” in any future conflict.

“A Eurodrone over the Sahel [region of North Africa] – it is true that is has long endurance and good surveillance capabilities, [and so] a drone like that must have some relevance. But in an armed conflict where air superiority isn't absolute, or at least where the threat from the ground remains, it is likely a fairly easy target,” Trappier said.

Dassault is one of the three prime national partner companies on the Eurodrone, alongside Airbus Defence and Space (DS) which is leading the project on behalf of Germany and Spain, and Leonardo for Italy. India and Japan are official observers on the programme.

Under previously announced plans, 20 systems would be developed and manufactured with each containing three aircraft and two ground control stations. Germany would receive seven systems and Italy five, while France and Spain would each receive four. However, in April 2026 France's 2024 - 2030 Military Programming Law (LPM) showed a significant reduction in the country's orders out to 2035. This update to the 2024 - 2030 LPM caused French national media to posit that the country was withdrawing from the programme.

In his latest comments to the French Senate, Trappier contradicted the positive outlook from Airbus DS, saying, "My understanding is that the French nonlonger want to buy Eurodrones -I gatheredthat from reading the press. There have been parliamentary discusdionson the matter - there is no purchase of Eurodrones in the current military planning, though development isunderway. As for what gets stopped and what doesn't, I couldn't say."