Paris (awp / afp) – Airbus has chosen the engine of an Italian subsidiary of the American General Electric (GE) to equip the future European drone, rather than that of the French Safran, the aircraft manufacturer announced on Friday, citing better competitiveness of this product.
One month after the signing by Germany, France, Italy and Spain of the contract to develop and produce this machine intended to free itself in particular from dependence on the American Reaper, Airbus, the industrial leader of the project, gave its verdict for its engine.
It will be the Catalyst developed by Avio Aero, a subsidiary of the American giant GE, said Jean-Brice Dumont, head of military aircraft within the European company.
This turboprop, a civilian version of which is to be fitted to American Beechcraft planes, was in competition with an engine from a helicopter, offered by Safran.
The Catalyst was selected for its better competitiveness, explained Mr. Dumont: “we have a solution which is more mature, which is in test flight on a commercial device (…), we estimated, in the comparison , a lower risk of development”.
“It is very important in a military program in cooperation where the schedules are tense, and where we have a flying start which is complicated to manage”, he developed.
In addition, the GE-Avio engine has better technical performance and “better economy, especially during the in-service phase”, justified the business manager.
Anticipating potential criticisms of the choice of an engine linked to the United States for an instrument of European sovereignty, Mr. Dumont insisted on the fact that the Catalyst did not fall within the scope of American Itar legislation.
This requires Washington’s authorization to export certain American-made components.
“We made sure of it by audit, we warned ourselves for tomorrow”, said Mr. Dumont: “this engine is of European design” and Airbus is “contractually protected” against such a risk.
The Italian Leonardo and the French Dassault Aviation are also participating in the Eurodrone program, a twin-engine aircraft with a wingspan of 30 meters.
Worth 7.1 billion euros, it provides for the development of the device, the delivery of a total of 60 drones, i.e. 20 systems, and their maintenance for five years.
Germany, the program leader, has ordered seven systems, Italy five, France and Spain four each. A system is composed of three drones and two ground control stations.
The first flight is scheduled for 2026 and the first deliveries two years later.
dpa/al