Story ID: 463
French MALE UAV Debuts at Paris Airshow
By: David Donald
Caption: Turgis & Gaillard pitches the medium-altitude, long-endurance drone as an all-French platform for surveillance and attack missions.
Word Count: 289
French aerospace and engineering group Turgis & Gaillard unveiled a new medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV at the Paris Airshow. Known as the Gaillard ASA 1204 Aa’rok, the UAV is a 5.5-tonne platform for surveillance and attack missions. The company plans to fly the vehicle later this year.
Although a Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprop will power the prototype, the production Aa’rok would use a Safran Ardiden if the fixed-wing version of that engine gains qualification, or the GE Catalyst does not. The 22-meter-wingspan drone has underwing hardpoints for the carriage of four Safran AASM guided bombs or up to 16 Hellfire, Brimstone, and MBDA’s Akeron-LP anti-tank missiles. Payload totals 3 tonnes and maximum endurance extends to about  24 hours, depending on loadout. With four AASMs carried on twin launchers from two heavy-duty pylons, it can fly for around 10 hours.
The Aa’rok can be fitted with a variety of sensors from a number of suppliers. The preferred electro-optic/infrared turret is the Safran Euroflir 610, which will be retractable to reduce drag during transit. The Searchmaster from Thales is a lead candidate for a search radar.
Aa’rok is being pitched to the French armed forces, offering a rapidly available all-French solution for a flexible armed surveillance UAV. The air force has encountered certain operational restrictions while using the U.S.-supplied Reaper, which would be removed by using a French sovereign system. Turgis & Gaillard wants to point out that Aa’rok does not compete with the 11-tonne quadrinational Eurodrone program being pursued by Airbus, Dassault, and Leonardo to meet the needs of the French, German, Italian, and Spanish forces.