MALE drones: Speed as a new driver of sovereignty

Discussions between representatives of the French Air and Space Force, the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA), Thales, and Daher led to a clear conclusion: as threats evolve at an unprecedented pace, the ability to accelerate innovation, industrialization, and system adaptation is becoming a decisive strategic advantage.  

For Air Corps General Dominique Tardif, Major General of the French Air and Space Force, the challenge is straightforward: “Acceleration is vital.” Recent conflicts have demonstrated that operational superiority increasingly depends on how quickly armed forces can exploit intelligence, make decisions, and adapt their equipment. “Platforms must be able to evolve very rapidly and at a lower cost,” he emphasized. 

This shift is also prompting governments to rethink acquisition strategies. André Sallat, Director of the Combat, Intelligence, Cyber, Space and Mission Aircraft Management Unit (CIRCEA) within the DGA, explained that the objective is no longer to launch lengthy and complex development programs, but rather to rapidly bring forward solutions capable of integrating available technologies and meeting operational requirements in a tangible way. “We want to focus on what could be called a System Readiness Level approach,” he noted, favoring demonstration, rapid integration, and short development cycles.  

Meeting time-to-field requirements 

This is precisely where Daher believes it has a competitive advantage. The Group promotes an approach built on two key pillars: its expertise as a certified aircraft manufacturer and its industrial capabilities. Rather than starting from a blank sheet of paper, Daher leverages a proven aviation platform, an existing supply chain, and well-established industrial processes. 

“By building on an existing platform and integrating mature, near off-the-shelf technologies, we can move quickly and meet the tight timelines imposed by armed forces,” explained Pascal Laguerre, Chief Technology Officer at Daher. “We are not starting from a PowerPoint presentation; we are starting from a real product, a production system, and a supply chain that we already know and master.” 

This philosophy is embodied in EyePulse, the sovereign MALE drone demonstrator developed by Daher in partnership with Thales in less than six months. Built on a certified aircraft platform, the demonstrator successfully completed its maiden flight in November 2025. 

The program is based on a rapid industrialization approach, with the ambition of transforming a technology demonstrator into an operational capability within compressed timelines. The system under development is designed to offer up to 20 hours of endurance in ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions, a modular architecture, and a maximum takeoff weight of approximately five metric tons. 

Open and scalable architectures

Beyond the platform itself, the conference also highlighted the importance of open and scalable architectures. Future drones will need to integrate new sensors, new capabilities, and artificial intelligence components rapidly, without requiring the entire system to be redesigned.

“We need more open infrastructures, standards, and plug-and-play solutions,” said Florent Chauvancy, Vice President Flight Avionics at Thales. According to him, this approach is essential to enabling rapid capability evolution while keeping costs and schedules under control. 

This technological agility is fully aligned with Daher’s vision. “It is similar to the software industry,” Pascal Laguerre explained. “Delivering a Version 0 that meets 80% of the requirement at 50% of the cost can sometimes be preferable to delivering a perfect product too late, only to find that it is already obsolete.” 

In an environment where operational feedback continuously reshapes requirements, the ability to adapt a system quickly is becoming just as important as its initial performance. 

A new model for the Defense industry 

Ultimately, the conference illustrated a profound transformation within the defense industry: closer collaboration between armed forces, government agencies, and industry in order to shorten innovation cycles and accelerate the delivery of new capabilities. 

For Daher, this evolution validates the relevance of a unique model that combines aeronautical expertise, certification know-how, and industrial strength. It is a model that not only enables the design of a drone, but more importantly its industrialization, continuous evolution, and production at the scale required to meet European sovereignty challenges. 

Through EyePulse, Daher is demonstrating that the challenge is not only to design the drone of tomorrow, but also to develop it, industrialize it, and continuously adapt it to the evolving needs of armed forces. This positioning is rooted in what makes the Group unique: the combination of aircraft manufacturing expertise and recognized industrial capabilities.