프랑스, 2030년대에 라팔 F5와 함께 작전할 UCAV 개발 시작

[위종민]

프랑스의 다소 에비에이션이 라팔 F5와 함께 작전할 무인윙맨 개발을 시작했네요. 라팔 콕핏에서 직접 운용될 것이라고 하는 걸 보면 CCA같은 완전자율비행 기능 탑재 여부는 아직 불확실한 듯 합니다. 2033년 운용이 목표네요. 

스텔스 기술, man-in-the-loop 기능을 갖춘 자율제어 및 내부 무장탑재가 가능하고 추후 기능확장이 가능하도록 설계될 예정이라고 합니다. 2003년 개발이 시작돼 2015년 시제기가 나왔던 nEURON 프로그램의 작업에 기반했다고 합니다. 

이와 별도로 에어버스는 6월 베를린 에어쇼에서 회사가 직접 개발한, 유로파이터와 같이 작전 가능한 대형 UCAV Wingman 컨셉을 전시했다고 합니다. 

France kicks off development of wingman drone for Rafale fighter jet (defensenews.com)

France kicks off development of wingman drone for Rafale fighter jet

By Rudy Ruitenberg

 Oct 9, 2024, 07:34 PM

A prototype of Dassault's "nEUROn" combat drone flies above the military airport in Istres, in southeastern France, in 2012. (AFP/ Dassault Aviation)

PARIS — France kicked off the development of an air-combat drone that will serve as an unmanned wingman for the country’s Rafale fighter, part of a contract with Dassault Aviation to start work on an upgrade package for the aircraft.

The stealthy wingman drone will be operated directly from the Rafale cockpit, the Armed Forces Ministry said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The unmanned combat aerial vehicle will build on Dassault Aviation’s work on its unmanned nEUROn demonstrator, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This stealth combat drone will contribute to the technological and operational superiority of the French Air Force by 2033,” Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier said in the statement.

The French plan to give Rafale pilots a drone buddy come as the timetable for the jet’s successor remains unclear. France’s senate in November had called on Dassault Aviation to start work on the Rafale upgrade, including a so-called loyal wingman, as soon as 2024 because of the lack of visibility on the Future Combat Air System being developed with Germany and Spain.

The wingman drone will incorporate stealth technologies, autonomous control with man-in-the-loop functionality and internal payload capacity, and designed to evolve with future threats, according to Dassault Aviation.

The French aircraft builder started the nEUROn program in 2003, and the drone had its maiden flight in December 2012 and first released a weapon from its internal bay in September 2015. Partners in the program include Leonardo for the internal weapons bay, Saab for the design of the main fuselage, avionics and fuel system, as well as Airbus for expertise on the wings.

Airbus showed off its self-funded Wingman concept, a large fighter-type stealth drone to team up with piloted jets such the Eurofighter, at the Berlin Air Show in June. The company described the drone as an answer to the “clear need” of the German Air Force for an unmanned buddy aircraft before FCAS will be operational.

German air force chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said in November that remote carriers resulting from the FCAS program were needed “much, much earlier” than the 2040s.

Dassault Aviation is the main contractor for the work on the fighter jet at the heart of the FCAS program, with Airbus as the principal partner. Development of the remote carriers is led by Airbus, with MBDA as the principal partner.

The governments involved aren’t waiting for FCAS though, with Germany agreeing in 2022 to buy the F-35 jet from the United States. France as recently as January announced an order for an additional 42 Rafale jets, lifting the total number of aircraft ordered to 234, including a special order for 12 fighters in 2021 to replace aircraft transferred to Greece.

The future F5 standard Rafale carrying the future ASN4G nuclear missile will be a “major evolution” for France’s airborne nuclear deterrent, the Armed Forces Ministry said on Tuesday. Manufacturers received the first orders for the upgrade program several weeks ago, according to Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

The modernized Rafale “will be ready to face the threats of the 2030s and 2040s,  Lecornu said. “For strategic air forces and conventional aviation alike, this is a revolution as significant as the transition from the Mirage 2000 to the Rafale.”

The French Air and Space Force received the first Rafale fighters upgraded to the F4 standard in March last year. The standard is focused on connectivity and includes the Mica medium-range air-to-air missile supplied by pan-European missile maker MBDA as well as an upgrade of the Spectra self-defense system developed by Thales.

MBDA is working on the ASN4G nuclear missile to replace the supersonic ASMP air-launched missile now carried by the Rafale, with the new missile scheduled to be operational around 2035, MBDA board adviser Adm. Hervé de Bonnaventure said in a parliamentary hearing last year. The new missile will have multiple warheads and performance “in the realm of the hypersonic,” according to the admiral.

French aerospace research lab Onera, with MBDA as co-contractor, received an order from France’s Directorate General for Armament to pursue work on the supersonic and hypersonic propulsion that will power the future nuclear missile, the researcher said Sept. 30.

The lab will focus in particular on the combustion chamber for air breathing propulsion within the Myhysis program. The program will also develop quantum computing capabilities with the potential to create a breakthrough in fluid and energy mechanics, an area of challenges for hypersonic missiles due to the speed at which they travel through the atmosphere.

MBDA and Onera have been studying hypersonics since the 2000-2010 period, de Bonnaventure said in last year’s parliamentary hearing.

France on Tuesday also announced the first qualification firing of the next-generation Aster 30 B1 surface-to-air missile, the upgraded interceptor that will arm the SAMP/T NG air-defense system ordered by France and Italy, as well as both countries’ air-defense frigates.

SAMP/T NG can intercept hypersonic missiles and deal with threats in a 360 degree radius, Lecornu said in a post on X. The system, developed by the Eurosam joint venture between MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales, is scheduled to enter service in the French forces by 2026.

“From Ukraine to the Middle East, the current conflicts illustrate to what extent ground-air defense is key,” Lecornu said.

France still expects to deliver Mirage 2000 jets to Ukraine in the first quarter of 2025, with the jets currently being fitted with new air-to-ground capabilities and electronic-warfare countermeasures, Lecornu said Tuesday, adding that training of Ukrainian pilots and mechanics continues. France has been gradually replacing its fleet of Mirage 2000s with the Rafale, which first flew in 1986.

[백선호]

미국도 2000년대에 커다란 플라잉 윙 공대지 UCAV 연구하다가 때려치우고 이제는 싸구려 공대공 CCA에 올인하는데 프랑스는 2000년대 스타일로 계속 가네요.

[위종민]

크고 비싸보입니다. 다른 라팔 운용국에도 팔려면 작고 싼 물건이 나와야 할 텐데요.

[ssn688]

유인/모기가 비스텔스이니 파트너 무인기는 UCAV화될 수밖에 없지 않을까요... 근본적으론 FCAS부터 깔아놓고 시작해야겠는데 이게 늦어지면 늦어졌지 빨리지진 않을 테고요.

[위종민]

그러고보니 모기가 비스텔스기체면 무인기는 커질 수밖에 없겠네요. 표적에 모기가 가까이 접근을 할 수가 없으니.