European multinational program / Autonomy

Eurodrone

European remotely piloted aircraft development with completed design reviews, a Japanese maritime study agreement and publicly raised concerns about program progress.

DOCUMENTED STAGEPost-design development; progress questions remainEvidence through 1 Jul 2026Sources reviewed 4 Oct 2026

THE DEVELOPMENT RECORD

Milestones, with receipts.

16 May 2024

Preliminary design review announced

Airbus reported completion of the preliminary design review and progression into detailed design. The entry uses the announcement date.

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15 Oct 2025

Critical design review completed

OCCAR reported completion of the design review, enabling prototype production and ground tests. This was a design milestone, not a flight or certification announcement.

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26 Jun 2026

Japanese variant study agreement

Airbus announced a memorandum with Kawasaki to explore a possible maritime variant. The same release described first flight in 2029 as a plan; the agreement was not a Japanese purchase.

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1 Jul 2026

Program progress questioned at hearing

Public Sénat's synopsis of Dassault chief executive Éric Trappier's hearing records his concern about Eurodrone's stalled progress. This entry records that public concern without deciding contractual responsibility or inferring cancellation.

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SUPPORTED BY THE RECORD

What we know

Airbus and OCCAR reported completed preliminary and critical design reviews.
The Airbus–Kawasaki agreement is exploratory and conditional on future decisions.
Airbus's stated first-flight date remains a target, while the later hearing synopsis highlights concerns about progress.

STILL OPEN

What we don’t know

The reviewed record does not establish a completed first flight, airworthiness approval or delivered operational fleet.
The final industrial responsibilities and any resulting schedule changes are not resolved by this source set.
The Japanese study agreement does not establish a procurement decision or a demonstrated variant.

Scope of this record

Selected original program sources and Public Sénat's synopsis of its 1 July 2026 hearing broadcast. Airbus's June release gives 2029 as a future first-flight target. The broadcast synopsis records concern about stalled progress but does not resolve industrial responsibility. Reviewed 4 October 2026; this is not continuous monitoring.

SOURCE REGISTER

Read the evidence.

01
Airbus achieves Eurodrone's Preliminary Design ReviewAirbus · 16 May 2024
02
Eurodrone Achieves Major Milestone with Successful Critical Design Review CompletionOCCAR · 15 Oct 2025
03
Airbus signs Memorandum of Understanding to explore Japanese anti-submarine variant of the EurodroneAirbus · 26 Jun 2026
04
Avion de combat du futur: audition du PDG de DassaultPublic Sénat — original hearing broadcast and synopsis · 1 Jul 2026