After years of watching the U.S. run away with development of unmanned combat air vehicles, Europe is finally attempting to catch up using its own indigenous design. Dassault Aviation unveiled a full-scale mockup of a UCAV demonstrator, the Neuron, here in the presence of French President Jacques Chirac and high-level representatives from other partner nations. Dassault leads the 400-million-euro ($482-million) effort, which is managed by the French armaments agency DGA. Thales took advantage of the venue to reveal that it had snagged the first Neuron subcontract, a data link. In a related move, Italy said it was entering the program, with a 22% share, alongside Switzerland. France will provide about 50% of total funding.
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