France signs framework agreement for Airbus VSR700 programme

Paris, France, June 17. Sébastien Lecornu, the French Minister for the Armed Forces has signed a framework agreement with Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters and Marie-Laure Bourgeois, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing of Naval Group for the future acquisition of the Systèmes de Drone Aérien pour la Marine (SDAM: uncrewed aerial systems for the Navy). The agreement also paves the way for cooperation with other nations via government to government agreements.

Each SDAM will feature an Airbus VSR700 uncrewed aerial system (UAS), operated with Naval Group’s Steeris Mission System. Naval Group is also responsible for integrating the SDAMs onto French Navy frigates. As a result of 15 years of R&D experimentation and development, Steeris® MS is a sea proven solution designed for naval combat system integration.

“This framework agreement is a key milestone for the VSR700 programme,” said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “With our partners we have demonstrated the VSR700’s capabilities at sea with multiple demonstrations including one on board a French Navy frigate,” he added. “Furthermore, with this programme we are building a local and sovereign UAS ecosystem that will benefit both our home nations and our partners across the globe,” he explained. “VSR700 is a truly versatile system that could be used in many different environments as evidenced by the armed scout version on display at the Paris Air Show.”

“This signature is a testimony to the teamwork achieved with our partners and to Naval Group’s expertise in integrating all types of drones on board surface ships to improve the operational capabilities of our client navies,” said Pierre Eric Pommellet, Chairman and CEO of Naval Group.

The framework agreement lays the groundwork for inclusion of further partner nations into the programme. Other nations across the world have been officially invited by the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) to join the programme. Through a government to government contract they will be able to order the system in a configuration similar to the one selected by the DGA for the French Navy.

The serial VSR700s that will be delivered to the French Navy will be equipped for surveillance and intelligence missions, like the VSR700 prototypes that have been tested so far to develop the SDAM. This configuration includes a radar, an electro-optical system and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver. The VSR700 has been developed to both take off and land automatically from a navy vessel in rough sea conditions, in a dense electromagnetic environment while carrying three sensors and flying for more than eight hours.