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European powers team up to build homegrown drones
Drones are sufficiently commonplace now that if you aren't building your own, you get a serious dose of FOMO. That's why Germany, France and Italy have agreed to bankroll a joint drone project, separate to Europe's, that'll build aerial surveillance hardware for the three countries. As Reuters reports, these nations currently American or Israeli gear, sparking fears that they're too reliant on military hardware from other countries.
Europe's combat UAV takes to the skies over Italy
After nearly a decade of design and development, the first full-size nEUROn unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator is ready for operational tests. Six European nations have coordinated on the UCAV's development. Defense contractor Dassault is responsible for its construction. The 41-foot wide, 10,000 pound drone has already passed a pair of initial trials since 2012 and is scheduled to undergo flight tests over Sardinia's Perdasdefogu range in the coming weeks. Should it succeed there, the nEUROn will head to Visdel, Sweden for weapons trials. [Image credit: Getty Images]
The Big Picture: Europe's unmanned combat drone concept
Pictured above, a mechanic works on Neuron, an unmanned stealth drone developed by a group of European nations, led by the French. "nEUROn" is a working concept for an "Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle" and includes fuselage designed by SAAB, Sweden. The craft has a 41 ft wingspan, weighs 10,000 lb when empty and can carry two 500 lb bombs. It first launched in December 2012, and has since completed 50 test flights -- the most recent completed this month. The project won't result in commercial production, instead serving to prove various technologies needed to for the next-generation of combat aircraft on the continent. [Image credit: Getty Images]
