Hallbergmoos/Germany, 16-17 September 2025 – As the OCCAR Eurodrone Programme progresses at a steady pace towards the end of the design phase with the Critical Design Review (CDR) scheduled for the end of 2025, OCCAR hosted a dedicated workshop with and for the two current Observer nations, India and Japan.
Both Eurodrone Programme Observer nations have expressed strong interest in the Eurodrone Programme overall and in particular in its strong baseline maritime capabilities and potential future new development.
With the support of Airbus GmbH as the prime contractor and the two industries providing the Eurodrone sensors, Safran and Leonardo, OCCAR organized a two-day workshop to explore the maritime capabilities already available in the baseline as well as potential future development.
The workshop gave India and Japan the possibility to deep dive into the two main sensors of the Eurodrone, the EO/IR sensor produced by Safran and the AESA radar produced by Leonardo. Both sensors represent the state of the art of the current available capabilities on the market.
The EO/IR sensor EUROFLIR™ 610, which is a brand new ITAR free development from Safran, is the biggest on the market with his 25-inch dimension in a field where “the bigger the better” and it integrates up to 11 latest-generation digital video & laser sensors providing unmatched capabilities.
The Gabbiano ES radar, which benefits from the experience and great performance of the Gabbiano radar family, is being developed by Leonardo for the Eurodrone Programme and will provide exceptional capabilities both in the SAR and MTI mode.
The ITAR free Gabbiano ES offers already outstanding maritime capabilities providing the procuring nations a versatile asset to fly a wide array of missions without changing configuration.
The delegations of India and Japan both expressed their appreciation to be able to participate in this important workshop and the possibility to access privileged information as part of their Observer State status within the MALE RPAS (Eurodrone) Programme.