No Short-term Need for MALE: French Official

7 Jul 2011 By PIERRE TRAN DefenseNews

PARIS - The French forces are in no need of a short-term acquisition of a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle in the Afghan theater, a military official said here July 7.

"I have everything I need," the official said, when asked if there was a requirement for a UAV in Afghanistan in the next two years.

The French Air Force has previously quietly pushed to acquire in the near term the U.S.-built Reaper UAV to boost capabilities beyond those offered by the EADS Harfang currently deployed in Afghanistan.

But the operational need for a short-term UAV procurement has come under review with the recent announcement of a gradual withdrawal of the 4,000 French troops in Afghanistan. Plans to acquire a MALE UAV jointly with Britain under the Lancaster House Anglo-French defense cooperation treaty have also added uncertainty.

The chief of the Defense Staff, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, has previously told French members of parliament that he saw a capability gap in UAVs between 2013 and 2020.

Testifying to the National Assembly's defense committee June 29, Guillaud said, "On the subject of UAVs, the concerns of an absence of a decision should be viewed in the light of the length of a weapons program.

"The need for UAVs has certainly been attested, but we will have to wait until 2020 to have a satisfactory Franco-British system.

"Taking into account legal and technical constraints, the offers promising a satisfactory reply more quickly are not serious. We must not let ourselves be manipulated by industry," he said.

BAE Systems and Dassault have made a joint offer of a new generation MALE UAV, which they say could be delivered in 2016 if an order were placed this year.

EADS has offered to upgrade the Harfang to extend its capacity, while pushing for governments to back development of its Talarion advanced UAV.

Defense Minister Gérard Longuet has said France would take steps to avoid a capability gap in UAVs and a procurement would be made in light of a detailed joint study of requirements with Britain, expected to last 12 to 18 months.