Daher flies its EyePulse MALE drone

Daher has successfully completed the flight demonstration of EyePulse, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drone prototype presented to the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) as part of a call for projects.

A commitment achieved in record time

This successful first flight, performed from the company’s Tarbes, France facility, is a key milestone that confirms the Daher Group's ability to act quickly and respond to the needs of defense stakeholders.

By developing a MALE drone demonstrator prototype in less than six months – in partnership with Thales – Daher has fulfilled its commitments and confirmed its ability to meet the DGA’s objective of rapidly strengthening drone capabilities for the French armed forces and for export.

A fully controlled demonstration

The demonstration consisted of an automated flight sequence, including an autonomous landing phase.

Daher – the project architect and leader – integrated Thales' ScaleFlyt avionics system into an existing platform, and enabled a fully autonomous flight phase after activation from the ground by Alexandre Lahousse, Senior General Engineer of Armament - Exceptional Class (IGCEA), who is the DGA’s Deputy Director General. He was accompanied by a DGA delegation during the demonstration.

As Daher’s technology partner, Thales developed the remote piloting control system, providing the ground-based station with ground-to-air command and control data link. This integration is based on a technology-agnostic control principle that is interoperable with different systems and complements the advanced technology of Daher's EyePulse platform, which is capable of automatic and autonomous flight.

The collaborative, self-reliant EyePulse project highlighted the complementary expertise of both companies.

Civilian innovation at the service of the armed forces

Based on certified and proven technologies in the civil sector, this flight illustrates Daher's experience, agility, and the efficiency of its industrial capabilities. The Group leveraged its aircraft manufacturing know-how – as well as its civil aviation competencies, approvals, and authorizations – to develop EyePulse. Daher’s Tarbes-based Fly'in technology center applied its capabilities in rapid prototyping, engineering, artificial intelligence and embedded systems testing to achieve the rapid integration of Thales technology into the MALE demonstrator.

Preparing for tomorrow's operational doctrines

With its modular design and interoperable technologies, the EyePulse drone will be able to evolve in meeting the needs of armed forces and adapt to different specifications, while aligning with continuously evolving operational doctrines.

According to Nicolas Chabbert, CEO of the Daher Group’s Daher Aircraft division: "As a partner of the armed forces for more than 30 years, Daher is leveraging its innovation capabilities and dual-use industrial expertise to fully contribute to the transformation of France’s defense capabilities. We are mobilizing our skills and resources to prepare for the series production of drones. This EyePulse flight demonstration confirms the relevance of our approach and our ability to scale up production."

For IGCEA Lahousse: "The speed at which Daher implemented this demonstration illustrates the company's agility. Its ability to use certified and proven technological building blocks for new applications greatly facilitates their integration in the defense sector. Additionally, Daher’s sovereign capabilities –through its industrialization and production capacity within France – are a major asset. Finally, its ability to collaborate effectively with other partners to integrate technologies that may not be mastered in-house also is to be commended."

With this first successful flight, Daher demonstrates its ability to innovate rapidly in efficiently integrating new technologies and leveraging an existing operational industrial base to address challenges of sovereignty and industrial acceleration. This achievement, made possible with the DGA’s support and guidance, marks a key milestone toward the series production of sovereign solutions for the French armed forces.